The Blonde Hair and Green Eyes
by Zannab0801
Summary: The turtles lost a friend to the enemy two years ago, and every path they tried to take to find her just led to a dead end. However, an enemy assassin appears in the middle of the situation, and collaboration seems to be an option if they want answers. What happens when they take the chance?
1. Prologue

This is a part two of my fanfiction, Never the same again. I recommend reading the first one to understand this story a little better, but it's alright not to. I will write a short summary of my first fanfic at the end of this prologue. Enjoy!

* * *

Raph's eyes flutter slowly, waking up from a wonderful dream, though he doesn't remember any of it. He was not even sure it was a good dream, but it certainly felt like it from the happy, tingling feeling in his stomach.

As he stretches his arms above his head and opens his eyes, he finds himself lying on a couch, but not just any couch, it was in Jaylene's apartment living room. He spins around to take in all the details of her home despite his presence at this place multiples of times.

A light, cold breeze blows the back of his neck and he turns in the direction of the balcony, his emerald green orbs finally settling on a sight for sore eyes. Jaylene. The brunette stands facing the sun, with her arms wrapped around her shoulders, head held high, with the soft patches of sunlight shining on her face.

Could she have looked more angelic? And the red banded turtle answers that question with an image appearing in his mind. It was shortly after she attended Darryl's party, and he spotted her sitting with her legs hanging off the edge of the building of their secret place. Her light blue dress reflected the moonlight, creating an angelic glow to her appearance, and it erased all negative thoughts in his mind. It was the happiest moment he had ever shared with someone that night, though it happened almost a year ago.

He walks towards her cautiously, and he did not know the reason why he moved ever so carefully. His arms wrap around her upper arms and he rests his hands on her stomach, with his plastron pressed against her back and his chin rested on the place between her neck and shoulder. He hears a soft sigh escape from her lips before she speaks, her voice like music to his ears.

"Good morning Raphael", she begins with, her eyes fixed blankly on the scenery below her. Raph smiles softly at her in return, knowing she didn't expect a reply because his presence was enough for her. "Hope you slept well…and what did you think of the movie we watched last night?" she asks with a sleepy tone, and the turtle furrows his brows at her question.

He doesn't recall watching a movie the night before, let alone remember at least a small bit of the dream he had last night. Ignoring what she had asked, he abruptly asks a question that had been on his mind for three months. It may have been too sudden, but he needed answers, straight from her.

"Why did you leave?" he bursts out, and strangely, Jaylene remained calm, not moving or flinching from his slightly prying tone, which shocked him. The brunette sighs and replies, "I had to. You, your brothers, and Splinter mean everything to me. I love you so much; I needed to find a way to keep you safe away from the enemy."

Raph sighs much like she did just before as he squeezes her petite body and turns her around to face him. "I miss you, Y'know."

Jaylene nods calmly and says, "I know", as she gazes into his eyes, her steel blue orbs shining with truth. The turtle leans in to place a tender, loving kiss on her lips, but when his lips are about to come in contact with hers, she disappears. His hands are no longer gripping her upper arms, and he is only holding onto the air where her body was supposed to be. He whirls around, eyes darting to spot a glimpse of her and she is nowhere in sight. A deep voice yells out, "Yame!" before the pain in his lower abdomen hits and his back slams into the wall, hard.

Raph blinks several times and finds himself in the dojo, with Leo kneeling in front of him, mouthing something. The high pitched ringing in his ears quietens down, and is replaced with a voice talking to him. Leo's voice. The voice soon matches with the movement of his brother's lips and he is asking him something. "Raph? Raph, are you alright?" the blue banded turtle worriedly asks his brother as he grabs his biceps and shakes him, though he knew how much Raph hated it when he did that.

"Huh? I'm fine. What happened?" Raph wonders while rubbing his aching shell and Donnie pipes up. "You and Leo were getting ready to spar, but you looked like your mind was somewhere else…now I know it is."

Leo nods and says, "Look, I'm sorry Raph. I thought you were ready." _It was unlike Raph to be unprepared for a spar…especially when it's with me…, _the words appear in his mind.

He picks up his brother's sais sprawled on the ground and hands it to the turtle sitting on the ground, who was still a little dazed, but the red banded turtle's expression changes drastically from his words of apology as he snatches his sais from Leo's hands.

"Are you saying I can't take a hit?" Raph snaps back at his elder brother and abruptly stands up, his eyes fixed on Splinter. "Sorry sensei, but I can't do this. Not now", before stalking out the dojo, and tossing his sais at the wall beside him because it seemed like an appropriate time.

Raph stands in front of the pinball machine, aimlessly pressing the buttons like a robot. "What's wrong with me?" he asks himself and continues to press the buttons and stare blankly at the game.

"That dream just felt so…real. Like she was really there. Like she was with me." A robotic sound disturbs his thoughts and he turns to find that he had lost his game in pinball; nowhere near his brothers' high scores, but the results didn't bother him.

"Never mind, my head isn't in the game anyway. Maybe I could clear my thoughts outside", he decides, abandoning the game and hopping over a turnstile with one hand and heading down the path of the tunnel.

* * *

He played back the daydream in his mind as he strolled on the rooftops and from time to time, punching the brick wall when it stood beside him.

Listening to her reply in why she left them didn't satisfy him. He was sure that Jaylene knew his feelings for her, but did she keep it in mind when she made the decision to sacrifice herself? She may have been missing for three months already, but she always haunted him in his dreams and every time, he tried to bring himself to ask for her reasons in why she left, but chose to remain silent and only enjoy the moments he had with her.

His mind still distracted, he stumbles over a crack on the ground and falls to his knees, hands landing on the edge of the building to steady himself, but glancing down at the alleyway below him, he sees…her. Her flawless skin and silky, short blonde hair flowed with the wind as she ran deeper into the dead end. The girl was beautiful.

As he tilts his head to the other end of the alleyway, he spots her backing away from something, or, someone. A skull-masked, black-hooded man was walking towards her like she was his prey, and in his hands, was a hockey stick. Not a deadly weapon, but it could injure the girl.

Raph's view of the scene was not the best as he only sees the back of the teen, but he can clearly see the front appearance of the man approaching her, and he was definitely not friendly. The turtle prepares to jump down and help her; reaching for his sais to realize he had left them at the dojo. At the moment, he possesses his back up weapons and nothing else.

_I chose a bad time to leave my sais back at the lair, _he growls irritated and pauses to choose whether saving her without a proper weapon was a good idea. "Oh well, she needs a hero", he finally decides, getting ready to jump off the roof, but below him, the girl suddenly pulls out a red whip and lashes it at the man.

The end of the whip wraps around the man's neck and she yanks her end of the weapon, pulling the man closer to her.

Raph stood silently, mouth agape at the sight as the girl spins and slams the man against the side of a green dumpster bin, the whip strangling him. Fortunately, the girl turns where he catches a front view of her and his jaw drops even lower than before.

She appears to be a ninja, kunoichi perhaps as a white mask covers the bottom half of her face and reaches halfway up her nose while she is wearing a white spandex suit with a red belt hanging around her waist and white high-heeled boots. The girl has shining green eyes, full of fire and passion and her hair drapes slightly past her shoulders.

Raph stares in awe at how she was defeating the man and as he leaps down to have a closer look, his eyes widen at the symbol on her shoulder. A foot clan symbol. Processing this new clue, the red banded turtle realizes the masked man isn't the bad guy and she isn't the victim. It is in fact, the opposite.

Knowing whose side to join, the turtle jumps in and kicks the girl in the back, feeling a little guilt for his action. She releases the grip of the whip she had around the man's neck and stumbles to the ground, taken aback from the impact and all at once, the masked man untangles the whip and throws it behind him, staring at the turtle next to him, with the girl wearing the same stunned expression.

"You-You're a giant turtle", he says and Raph rolls his eyes. "Wow, thanks for telling me something I have known for fifteen years", he replies, sarcasm thick in his voice before he turns his attention to the girl a few feet away.

"Who are you? Are you with the Foot?" He asks, though he knew the answer to the second question and it was quite pointless in asking it. The girl no longer wearing the shocked expression when he spoke, changes her facial appearance to a confused, yet reminiscent look.

He sees a ghost of a sly smile appear on her lips before she pulls something from behind her. Smoke bombs. His mind was quick to think when he saw the small objects she held in her hands, but his reactions were too slow.

He lunges at her a second after she slams the smoke bombs on the ground and he instead crashes into the wall with a loud thump. "Nice one Raph. Second time today", he says to himself, referring to how many times he had crashed into the wall as he rubs his head from the pain, and deep in thought.

The mysterious girl is gone, but who is she? He had never seen her before in his life, but the look of remembrance on her face conveyed that she had seen him once. _Maybe she spies on you like Karai spied on Leo a year ago, _his mind suggested, and he settled with that thought as he moved away from the wall he crashed into earlier.

A shuffling sound behind him catches his attention and he slowly turns to face the masked man. "Do you know her?" he asks and the man shakes his head.

"No dude. I was beating up some guys who were cornering a shop keeper and she suddenly jumped in and kicked me in the face. I think she was on their side, but she didn't look like one of them. I chased her, and the next thing I knew, I was being strangled by her whip and a giant mutant turtle saves me."

Raph nods in response and his thoughts ponder on the man's story as he scratches his head in slight confusion. No suggestions appear in his mind, so he begins to walk away, but a large glove placed on his shoulder stops him. "But…thanks dude", the man says, adding onto his explanation, and from the tone in his voice, the red banded turtle knew this man was not the type to show gratitude often.

Raph smirks and replies, "No problem", and outstretches his hand in greeting. "Names Raph", he chooses to introduce himself with, as this was not a formal meeting.

The man lifts his hood and takes his skull-like mask off, revealing he was no older than eighteen years old with brown eyes, raven black hair and had missing two front teeth. He too smirks and grasps Raph's hand tightly before replying, "Jones. Casey Jones."

* * *

_**Fin**_

I had an urge to post the prologue so badly, so I did, though the chapters may come a while later. I have already sorted out most of the details for the story, and just need to add some stuff for the middle chapters. Surprising how I came up with the prologue before I'm going to post the next chapters, but this part was quite easy to write up. Please review for your opinion on what you think about this intro!

_Short Summary of Never the same again (Based after season 1):_

_The turtles find an unconscious girl in the sewers who was accidentally shot by one of the kraang droids they were battling against, and discover she had slipped into a coma. Feeling responsible for her condition, the turtles take her back to the lair where she is under Donnie's care for several months. When she wakes up all of a sudden, she attacks the turtles and tries to escape, showing skill in some forms of ninjutsu, but they are able to defeat her in the end. She then introduces herself as Jaylene O'Denlly, a fourteen year old whose parents are extremely wealthy, but divorced, so she lives in an apartment of her own in the city._

_They decide to welcome her into their family - Splinter happily agreeing - as she is somewhat alone from not going to public school and having a tutor instead. When Jaylene goes on patrol for the first time with the turtles, they unexpectedly encounter Karai. After the battle, Jaylene informs the turtles that Karai her friend from when she lived in Japan a couple of years ago._

_Karai soon remembers who Jaylene is, and tries to convince her to join her side with the Shredder, as she believes that Splinter is evil because he killed her mother Tang-Shen (Karai not knowing the truth that Splinter is her father)._

_As weeks turn into months, Raph has fallen for Jaylene and finally has the feelings returned after Jaylene has a bad night, while also encountering Karai. Raph is the only one able to make her feel better, and deeply cares for her, which allows Jaylene to realize her feelings for him too. Karai has many attempts in persuading Jaylene to join her; even capturing Donnie as hostage and 'bait'. Jaylene sees that Karai is going too far, and devises a plan to return Donnie home safely. However, the other part of the plan unknown to the turtles, included Jaylene handing herself over to the enemy as she wishes to keep the turtles safe; since Karai will be satisfied she has joined the enemy side._

_Donnie lets everyone know of Jaylene's sacrifice when he returns, and this crushes Raph the most who vows to find her and save her with the help of his brothers._

_Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT 2012_


	2. New Mission

As his fist came in contact with the surface of the cylinder object, a ripple effect occurred, like waves of water across the stiff fabric. The sound was deafening, but no one would have heard it. No one was around to hear it. He was alone in the room, a gymnasium, and not his of course. The gym belongs to his girlfriend, or rather, **belonged **to his girlfriend, though details didn't matter. 'Belonged', because he didn't know whether she was alive, dead, or just plain missing. He wished she were alive, but it depended on the condition she was in. He didn't want to find her alive with a broken back or fractured skull, and he trusted her past with Karai that it wouldn't happen, but he felt somewhere inside of him that there was a higher chance of her being dead. It had been two years after all.

He lived in two years of sadness, anger and heartbreak with happiness only coming from moments with his brothers and Casey. His best friend seemed oblivious to his despair, and he was quite surprised he hasn't realized till now. Being seventeen, he should move on, but he couldn't. Breathing the air reminded him of Jaylene, so there was no way he could just, forget the year he spent with her.

He slammed his clenched hands into the red, and now-scratched and dented punching bag; the impact caused the chain that held it to break, sending the punching bag flying through the room before skidding on the floor. The turtle panted heavily, sweat dripping from his chin and tears streaming down his face.

_Hopefully she won't be mad that I broke it…if she ever returns, _the thought crossed his mind, also pushing in his feeling of doubt into the sentence. He first, entered her apartment without permission and second, broke three of her punching bags in counting, but he didn't count trespassing as a bad thing since Jaylene probably didn't mind.

A picklock to opening her apartment window lay on the balcony floor when he came to her home, and that was of utmost, not, an accident. Three words came into his head seeing the picklock, _She. Was. Prepared. _

Prepared for what was going to happen, prepared to be taken away by the enemy to protect them. The sacrifice was daring, but she did not know the pain it brought to him from the moment he heard that she had done something like that.

Raphael strolled through the hallway outside of the gym, making a beeline towards the kitchen. He grasped his water bottle that was placed on the kitchen bench, the cold droplets of water dampening his fingers, before he put the bottle to his lips and allowed the cool water to trickle down his tongue and throat, satisfying his thirst. Upon placing his bottle back on the kitchen bench, his emerald green orbs spotted a white piece of paper which seemed misplaced, or he had never realized it was there before.

Curiosity got the better of him, and he picked up the paper, skim reading through the words written.

_Dear Mrs. Lawson,_

_Sorry this may have been a late notice, but I'm in Italy right now because some friends have invited me to stay with them for a while. I will contact you when I return, and please tell my parents that I will be gone. Thank you for being my tutor as I have learned a lot from you, so there is a gift from me, waiting at your house to show my gratitude._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Jaylene O'Denlly_

The note was slightly wrinkled on the edges, indicating that Mrs. Lawson had already read the note, but from the start of the message, Raph knew everything written was a lie…well, most of it anyway. He remembered Jaylene said to him that she was lonely and was glad she met him and his brothers, as she didn't have many friends because her father travelled so much. She never had time to settle in a public school to make close friends, and the only one she had since she was young, was Karai, so she was definitely not in Italy with friends. Wondering where she really was reminded him that her location was unknown.

Since Karai dumped Jaylene in a kraang van to move to a new base, which was Donnie's theory, she could be anywhere. Possibly even out of the country and on the other side of the world, and again, thinking about her whereabouts reminded him that she was prepared and planned everything out, even for her tutor.

A small movement stirred behind him, and there was no doubt that it wasn't a fly. His instincts told him that whoever or whatever was behind him was dangerous, for the reason he did not know why. Grasping three shurikens from his belt, each one held between the gaps of his fingers, and he tosses it in the direction of the intruder.

The sound of an object blocking his shurikens rang three times, one after another. Raph knew this person too had fast reflexes, and decides to catch a glimpse to make sure he knew who he was battling.

Turning around, he comes face to face with the youngest member of his family holding nuchucks on both hands and both legs bent after whacking the shurikens away. Though he was not so young anymore, the turtle was still immature. Even becoming a seventeen year old didn't stop Mikey from shifting into having a more mature attitude, and it definitely didn't stop him from pulling more of his obnoxious pranks on his brothers. _Heck, even I didn't change too much from the turtle I was a couple of years ago_, Raph realizes as he takes four confident steps towards his brother.

"What are you doing here Mikey?" he demands, feeling that Jaylene's apartment was only meant for him to hang out at. It was sacred, Jaylene and his territory.

"You think I haven't been to this place dude? I love coming here, and I know about the picklock. But I came here for the swimming pool in the other room", the orange banded turtle replies and points behind him with his thumb while beaming brightly before dropping his hand back to his side and changing his expression to show he is not going to joke around at the moment. "Raph, you're almost always not at the lair anymore", the young turtle states and Raph crosses his arms, cocking one eyebrow at the same time.

"So? Why do you care where I am in the day?" he says curtly, the tone of his voice pricking Mikey slightly. Mikey shifts his weight uncomfortably, searching for the words to reply with.

"I remembered when you walked out on training, Y'know, a few years ago. I thought sensei would stop you, but we know you took her sacrifice the hardest. And when you came home, Casey was following behind you and I remember Donnie saying that it will be a disaster since two 'Raphs' are gonna be at the lair", Mikey chuckles holding his hands over his abdomen as he continues to laugh. The young turtle's laughter was the same as usual, never changing, and Raph felt less uncomfortable hearing it every time.

The red banded turtle grunts in response, but smiles inwardly as his grip tightens on the forgotten note. The crinkling of the paper caught Mikey's attention, and the turtle tilts his head to stare down at the note in his brother's hand. "What's that Raph?" his curious voice squeaks when he asks, and points at the paper.

Raph also glances at the note and loosens his grip around it, sighing sadly. "It's a note from Jaylene to her tutor…nothing too important though", he exasperatedly replies and rapidly mutters the last part.

A buzzing on his hip interrupted him, and he placed his hand against his belt to grab his t-phone. Quickly glancing at the caller ID, Donnie's picture appeared on the screen. Seeing it was his brother, he pressed the button to answer the call before placing the phone to his ear and said, "Hello?"

A split second later the purple banded turtle replied. "Raph! Come home quickly, there's something I need to show you!" the turtle on the other end exclaimed and hung up. Raph looked at the phone with a quizzical expression and shrugged as Mikey stared at him. He seemed to have heard what Donnie had said and was already walking to the balcony. The red banded turtle followed suit, scurrying after his brother; still clutching onto his phone, and started heading back to the lair.

* * *

"Hey man, where have ya been?" The raven black haired teen greeted his friend with a clap on the shell as he entered Donnie's lab with Mikey swiftly trotting past and headed straight to stand next to Leo. The red banded turtle shoved Casey with one hand and rolled his eyes playfully. "Just outside", he replied plainly as a sad smile crept up his lips, but his now-twenty, year old friend didn't notice.

Hearing the presence of his brother from the chuckles near the doorway caused him to face-palm. The purple banded turtle had received an urgent message just recently, and here they are, joking around like they were fifteen. It was weird to think that him and his brothers were seventeen already, April was eighteen and Casey was twenty years old. He couldn't believe that two years had passed, but since he was so caught up in the search for their missing friend, maybe two years passing by was believable.

He almost forgot about celebrating their mutation day when he woke up on the date of that morning, and his brothers claimed he was too obsessed with searching for Jaylene, but he always countered with why they were giving up. After a year Leo and Mikey lost hope while he continued searching, and Raph was still convinced she was alive. It was hard though, because he didn't know where to start looking and they didn't have any spies to work as double-agents in the enemy's base, until an idea came into his head ten months ago, which he needed to inform his brothers of, because he had gathered an essential piece of information.

"Well if you two meatheads aren't busy, I have some important news for everyone", Donnie says to interrupt Casey and Raph, but loud enough for April and his brothers to hear his announcement. Everyone's eyes were laid on him as he stood up from behind his work desk and leaned a single armed against it.

"Ten months ago while we were on patrol and we came across a group of foot soldiers right?" he asked the gang in the room with everyone nodding in response and it motions for him to continue.

"Yes well, I took one back to the lair, but don't worry, it didn't do any harm", the purple banded turtle rapidly added when Leo's expression changed into a slightly angry, and stunned expression.

"Anyway, I was able to override its systems and plant a device that allows us to monitor its movements, and see what it sees. I sent it back to the Foot headquarters, and the Footbot does not know that we can track it while it does its regular routines. I figured that it will work as a 'double agent' in a way, and it may find out where Jaylene is", he grinned at the end of his explanation with his front, gapped-tooth teeth showing.

The others stood jaw-dropped at his plan. It was genius, and something only Donnie can come up with. "So, have you found anything?" Leo asks and it pulls everyone out of their hypnotic state that began from the moment they heard Donnie's plan.

Donnie smiles wider and nods excitedly, glad one of his brothers finally asks the question. "I did find out that the Shredder returned from a business trip in Japan, when the Footbot bowed down to him at his lair. And, we hit the jackpot when I found out that the Footbot we are using is one of the messengers for the kraang and Shredder, so most of the time it receives important messages exchanged between them", and he paused, allowing the gang to process his theory.

"And just earlier today when I watched the Footbot's camera, it was searching through computers for the kraang, and I was even able to record their password patterns and everything, but that's not the point. The point is, the Footbot searched through a whole lot of files, just to find a particular location. It went to a lot of trouble to find that place, so it must be top secret, meaning it's important. Again, I overrode the Footbot and searched through the files to find at least a small portion of information about that place, and a profile about this teen named Astraea, came up. I didn't find out much about her before I had to sign off and let the robot go back to its usual self before the kraang around it suspected anything."

The purple banded turtle spun around and moved to stand behind his desk, hands on the keyboard of his computer, ready to type. The tapping of his fingers against the keys was the only sound heard for several minutes in the lab, aside from the heavy breathing caused by the nervous tingling that lingered in the air and made all except Casey, sick to the stomach. Wondering if Donnie's lead would help them find Jaylene stuck to their minds, and they were afraid of the truth.

Donnie motioned with one hand for everyone to gather around his computer as he pointed to the screen and said, "This is the place."

On the screen there was a picture of an old, unused building, but with a white van parked in the alleyway adjacent to it, and the familiar face of a disguised kraang in a human suit, was definitely suspicious. "The photo was taken last year, so the kraang are probably still in the building, doing who knows what", Donnie spoke again, but with his eyes fixed on Raph, showing hope and fear in them.

He didn't need to tell his brother what he was feeling, because the red banded turtle plastered on his 'it's go time' face with his fists clenching. "Wait…and why are we going to go to that place?" The twenty year old asked, and Donnie was sure he heard a gasp coming from his younger brother.

"To look for Jay! And even I know why we're going…I think", Mikey burst out and waved his arms in the air to emphasize his point. All eyes were on Casey, but judging from the look on his face, he still didn't get it. Leo face-palmed and groaned, irritation clearly displayed while Raph grabbed his friend by the shoulders and shook him. "Seriously?! Do you even know who Jaylene is?!" he yelled and Casey's expression changed from the mention of her name.

"Jaylene? Yah mean Jaylene O'Denlly?" He asked with a hint of remembrance on his face.

"None other", Donnie replied curtly, but wondering why Casey was clueless to her name. _I'm sure Raph already told him about Jaylene…, _he thought, but he had a suggestion of the possibility that Casey might have not known this whole time.

Casey rolled his eyes at the purple banded turtle and scowled, but shrugged and mumbled, "Yeah I do remember her now. And I don't think I have told you guys, but I met her at a party my friend hosted", and from those words, Leo was relieved that Casey does know who Jaylene is, but also spoke up from hearing the words 'A party my friend hosted'.

"You mean, Darryl Haglen's party?" he asked with a hint of strain in his voice. The raven haired teen nodded and arched an eyebrow, curious expression spreading across his face.

"Yeah…how'd yah know that name?" he inquired since he had never spoken about his human friend to the turtles, and even April. Leo was hesitant to reply and shot a look at his brothers, wondering if he should tell Casey the truth about his 'best friend'. He hoped Casey would not break down as he opened his mouth, knowing he may regret his action.

"Casey, your friend…Darryl…are you guys…close?" the words tumbled out of his mouth, and he figured it may be easier to start with this question first.

"Oh yeah, we're tight dude. We're the stars of the hockey team, but obviously I'm better. We're also seniors though, so the rest of the team won't stand a chance against our power", he replied, not holding back on the proud tone he spoke with. He pounded his fists together and smirked as the blue banded turtle's face was drained of color, leaving only a light, pale shade of green remaining. He had a sharp intake of breath and dragged his feet across the floor to rest on the other, the skidding of his toes clearly implying his nervous attitude.

"Casey, Darryl is not who you think he is…" Leo starts.

"He's a ninja working for the Shredder. He's more like our enemy than a friend…and I think Leos jealous because Darryl is just like him and he thinks Karai likes Darryl better than him!" Mikey blurts out and races to hide behind Donnie incase Leo would attack him, but Leo, trying to act like the mature adult he is, only glares at his little brother for a few minutes before turning to Casey and saying, "Mikeys right. Darryl is not really your friend…sorry you had to find that out and we hoped you would never know, but it's hard if we were about to battle him."

Casey widens his eyes at both Mikey and Leo as he listens, and turns to look at Raph for if he agreed that the information was true or not, but somehow, he suspected that Raph would nod for 'yes', so he was not surprised at the turtle's reply. His expression is blank and body unmoving, only the small sound of his breathing heard instead of a reply including words.

April moves to stand beside Casey and places a warm hand on his shoulder, in a caring gesture, which Donnie responses to by flinching slightly. He scratches his chin and raises his hand, hoping to receive everyone's full attention. "We're going on a mission. Check out the apartment, gather some intel, and get. Out", the purple banded turtle instructs, and at the same time, cutting in April and Casey's moment by giving orders.

The turtles and April nod in unison as Donnie glances at their faces, before coming to a halt when his eyes settle on Casey. "You ready Jones?" he asks the raven haired adult and the twenty year old pounds his fists together, no longer disappointed by the news about his friend and says, "Let's go", with determination gleaming in his eyes.

* * *

_**Fin**_

Sorry for the long wait, but at least the first chapter is up, but again, the next chapter will come a while later. This chapter is also rushed, as you can tell, and not as much action as the other one so apologies for that too. So the turtles, April and Casey are on a mission, and a surprise awaits for them at the kraang base. Please review!

Cat girl:  
In reply to your previous review, I'm intrigued as to how you two are similar since the kunoichi is mysterious and dodgy, and I don't think you are, but reading the story further, you may have some similarities to her. Cool name by the way, and thanks for your review! Really appreciate it and hope you continue to read! :-D

_Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT 2012_


	3. The Mysterious Building

Tonight was the night. The time had finally come for the turtles, April and Casey to go on their first proper mission in finding Jaylene. They have waited so long, too long perhaps, to start searching for their missing friend, and it seemed that two long years of no clues, no new findings had lead them to prepare for this special search.

Raph stood still, and silently in his room, the darkness and dim light above his head was the only company he had, plus the presence of his beloved companion Spike.

He grasped the brown photo frame tightly, and stared at the image, eyes settled on the brunette. The photo was taken a day after his and Jaylene's midnight picnic, a memory that clung to him with the same amount of grip he had on the photo. On the glossy image, his arm was wrapped around Jaylene's shoulder, and he looked…happy.

Sounded strange when that thought crossed his mind, but another way to put it, is he was genuinely, happy. To him, it felt like a crime to wear a mask to cover his real feelings, pretending to be happy or joke around when he was not, but the times he had sudden rages or had moments where he did not speak, worried his brothers, though they knew the reason for his out of control emotions.

"What do I do Spike? I'm a wreck", Raph says to his pet, patting him on the head as Spike munches on his leaf in response. "Hopefully we find Jaylene…soon. And maybe we'll leave in a few hours, and if not, minutes", he speaks to himself and thinks back to the moment in Donnie's lab occurring in the afternoon.

_Earlier that day,_

_Donnie nods firmly at Casey, spins on his heel and walks towards his computer to find the address and if lucky, the blueprints about the 'kraang's possible-new base'. Raph only watches his brother silently, and when he drifts his gaze over everyone in the room, they were doing the same. His heart was thumping with a rhythmic beat like a metronome, and it matched the speed of Donnie's fingers typing on the keyboard when he focused his ears on the two sounds. _

_There was a lot of pressure on his brother since he made the discovery, and when his part was completed, it would be time for him, his brothers, Casey and April to step in to take on their role of this search. This was the first time Donnie had made a breakthrough with his researching for Jaylene, and the red banded turtle was more than eager to go on this mission as soon as possible. _

_The successful beep from his computer indicated that Donnie had found the address of the kraang building, but why did he wear a slightly disappointed expression? _

'_Guess he didn't find the blueprints', Raph thought sadly, but then he situated himself to look on the bright side of things. 'Doesn't matter, cause I don't think we'll need it. We'll get in the kraang base without the blueprints', he thought to prevent his mind from pushing forward the second thoughts he might have pondered on, about the mission. _

_As Donnie walked away from his computer, he snatches his t-phone with the address already downloaded before lifting his eyes to face everyone in the room as Raph did the same to fix his attention on his brother. "Get ready guys…we leave tonight", Donnie instructs._

Raph remembers the look on Donnie's face. How it was unsure, and was it about the mission? He looked like he was worried about some minor details. _Don't worry, Donnie is always prepared for these kinds of things, _the red banded turtle reminds himself and nods at the thought.

He strides from one end of his room to the left handed side, where his drum set was located. He taps the tip of his fingers repeatedly against the surface of the crash cymbal, increasing the intenseness of the atmosphere, and the effect it had on him.

He stops short when the strong, but yet, soft rapping of knuckles against the door caught him of guard. Just as he was about to head towards the door to open it, a particular, concerned turtle entered the room, with the squeaking of the door following straight after he placed one foot in Raph's room.

"You…alright…Raph?" Leo asks with a pause in between each word. He was half-in-half-out his brother's room, uncertain if Raph's reply was going to be calm or throw a tantrum, which is why Leo was only partly in the room so that he could avoid the anger Raph might have, since he seemed to have interrupted him.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" The red banded turtle replies, but his eyes are never leaving the photo he was still holding on to. _Okay…so he's not mad. Not calm either, but not mad, _Leo breathes a sigh of relief as he steps deeper into his brother's territory.

Walking ever so slowly, he cautiously and curiously glances over Raph's shoulder to catch a glimpse of what he was gazing at. The look in his emerald green eyes was fond, with a hint of happy remembrance, and the corners of Leo's mouth twitches at the sight of this. It had been a very long time since he had seen this expression, and it made Leo happy to see his brother happy, after what they all had been through.

_Wish Jaylene was here, and everything, and everyone would return to their normal selves, _Leo hopes as he too stares at the photo in Raph's grasp. _Her sacrifice seemed to have brought the sadness out of Raph. _

A few seconds pass, and Leo jumps and backs away when Raph all of a sudden, flinches before gently placing the photo on his shelf. The blue banded turtle had thought his brother would have commented or made a smart remark on why he was still in the room, but only dead silence came after Raph's act.

Leo's mouth opened and closed several times as he debated on whether to place a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder, or wait until Raph says something because his responses were unpredictable. He finally reaches his hand out, but came to a halt just as his fingers would have touched the red banded turtle's shell, before choosing to let the reassuring words tumble out of his mouth.

"Don't worry Raph, we'll find her", he says, not mentioning the when and where, but the words caused Raph to mutter something in return, as the same words were spoken by Donnie two years ago, the night Jaylene was gone, and it only brought miserable feelings and memories to him.

Moments later, Raph hears the steady thumping of footsteps as the words played in a loop in his head, and the sound was very distant even though it occurred right outside his room. But the noises quieten down soon enough when he listens to the statement he had been waiting for the whole day to be spoken. "It's time", the purple banded turtle says, with the result of Raph's fists clenching shortly after he makes the announcement.

* * *

"Team A? Ready?" Leo asks Casey and Raph; their reply was their fists smashing into their palms and the cracking of knuckles. He gives a swift nod, and Raph stealthily tuck and rolled, before smashing the lock of the garage gate open with his sai, followed with the use of his three fingers to point past the doorway, deeper into the darkness.

The blue banded turtle hears a brief gulp from the twenty year old stiffly standing next to him, and Casey hesitates at the order from Raph, but begins to walk cautiously towards his friend, legs bent, and head ducked low as they both disappear into the apartment.

Leo knew that Casey was nervous about this mission, since they didn't have a lot of information about this kraang building, and it looked dodgy, especially since it was night time, but also because the area surrounding it was extremely quiet, and the building seemed too old to have droids busy inside, which would have made it a perfect secret base.

It was just hiding in plain-sight, and no one would have looked twice into a run-down building since they were unstable and off-limits. But here they were, standing behind dumpster bins in the dark alleyway next to the building and looking into the mysteriousness of the place, hoping to find a person important to them.

The sound of laser guns going off caused April to bury her face into Donnie's plastron, not wanting to watch what was going on though the action was happening inside. Donnie, who was surprised at her act, rubbed her back in soothing circles to calm her down, happy that she chose him to use as her comforter, but disappointment had also enveloped him, for the reason the red-headed woman hid her face in worry, was because of Casey's safety.

The blasting of the laser guns were soon silent, and everyone waited anxiously before seeing a green hand using a 'thumbs up' gesture sticking out of the darkness. They exhaled the breaths that they had held without knowing they were holding them, and their shoulders visibly relaxed, as Raph's hand was a signal of a successful step one.

"Team B, get ready in your positions", Leo orders Donnie and Mikey, but receives a complaint from Mikey while Donnie positions his arm to shoot the grappling gun aiming at the second floor, for an ambush from above in case more kraang began to attack Casey, Raph, April and Leo who were heading inside the building. "I thought we agreed that we were team 'A minus'", the youngest turtle grumbled as he crossed his arms and pouted, but being seventeen didn't make it look any cuter than it was before two years ago.

Leo, who rolls his eyes at his little brother, sees that he is unsatisfied with the name 'Team B' and sighs exasperatedly. He feels the tapping of a slim finger on his shoulder, belonging to April, and he flicks his head in the direction of the garage doorway, telling her to go first and that he would catch up.

"Fine. Team A minus, hurry. Into. Your. Positions", He says through gritted teeth, and fortunately, the orange banded turtle skips happily to stand adjacent to Donnie as they both shoot the grappling guns in unison, before traveling up the side of the building and onto the floor above.

The blue banded turtle watches his brothers reach the top and half-heartedly smiles, but a happy feeling had settled in the pit of his stomach. "Okay, they're in position."

He begins to jog into the building, and increases his speed once he had gone past the garage doorway, and the sight of kraang droids sprawled lifeless on the floor welcomed him; informing that there may be no danger in this place at all.

"This could be easier than I…" Leo states, but once he passes the main door and into the center of the building, he freezes in his spot next to Casey, Raph and April who all had their arms raised and wearing shocked expressions. "…thought", he finishes his sentence, but paused in between, when he saw that they were surrounded by kraang droids on the first floor and the balcony on the high second floor, guns pointed at them.

"The ones who have broken into the kraang base are the ones known as the turtles; are the ones who have to put their hands up for the kraang", all the droids say at the same time, causing a chill to run up Leo's spine. Not facing these robots for a long time, and listening to them speak in unison was a little creepy, but that didn't mean he had forgotten how to fight the droids.

The moonlight streaming in from the wide open window caught his eye, and he spotted Donnie and Mikey, who were slowly crawling into the building from the same window, ready, and waiting to smash some droids once he gave a signal.

He tilts his head and catches the three pairs of eyes also staring at Donnie and Mikey up on the second floor, and they look from them to him, like they could read his mind, and see what he was thinking.

"Ready…" Leo waits a few moments to make sure everyone was ready before yelling and giving a battle cry. "Now!" he yells and grabs his katanas from behind his shell and charges at the group of kraang in front of him while dodging laser blasts. Raph follows his brother's lead and lunges at the kraang, deflecting the laser blasts with his sais with Casey right on his tail, knocking out droids with his explosive hockey pucks.

Upstairs, Mikey and Donnie are both battling the droids that are continuously running at them, and having trouble to push them off from the lack of space they have on the balcony. "From my calculations, this balcony could collapse right under our feet, from the weak and old material used, and the fact that there's a lot of kraang coming right for us", The purple banded turtle states, and Mikey responds with a quick nod, only hearing half of his brother's sentence since he was busy fighting off the kraang crawling all over and coming from all sides.

The red banded turtle glances up briefly and sees his brothers needing his assistance; leaves the battle on the floor to join his brothers on the floor above. Jumping onto the pillar, he uses his feet to run up the wall in a side-step motion, but done vertically. He swings up and jumps onto the handrail, sitting like a frog and impeccably balanced on both feet while spinning his weapons in his hands.

Raph springs up from his position and spin kicks the seven kraang droids in front of him, strikes them with his sais; eventually stabbing some and throwing them off the balcony to avoid the overcrowding of kraang droids. He repeats this several times nonstop, like a killing machine that ran on forever.

Mikey watched his brother with his mouth a gape as he struggled to hold off a droid with his nun chucks that he used to shield himself from blows. He had never seen his brother fight so seriously in his life, every maneuver and movement performed perfectly, like Leo's style of combat had kicked some sense into him.

A spark lit inside the young turtle, and with tongue hanging on the side of his mouth he spits out, "Booyakasha!"

Whirling his weapons in windmill motions, he sprints towards a droid and jumped onto the chest area; pushed it backwards with both his legs, the impact toppling over several more robots. His excitement caused the number of kraang on the balcony to lessen more and more every second, and Donnie, who was chuckling inwardly, made sure this was the only time he would be glad about his little brother's enthusiasm in battle.

It finally came down to the last droid, and Raph's final blow was jabbing it in the head, shoving it onto the floor, and stabbing it endlessly out of impatience.

He felt that it was his fault his brothers, Casey and April had gotten into this massive battle when he gave the 'all clear' signal, and if anyone was injured even slightly, he would take all the blame for it. He had thought that the building was empty all because he had his hopes up too high, and led everyone into a death arena, but he trusted that April and Casey's training had taken off, so they wouldn't get shot by the kraang. And now, he was taking his anger on the kraang droid, and though he knew it probably wouldn't be able to stand once he was through with it, he needed to vent his emotions somehow.

"Calm down Raph. We're okay", Donnie assures his brother as he pulls him away from the, almost-completely-crushed robot. The red banded turtle bends over and rests his hands on his thighs, but still standing; glances at Mikey who held his thumbs up at him, in which he tiredly grins in return.

Their rest and celebration for their victory was short lived, when a split second afterwards, more than three dozen kraang burst into the main room on the bottom floor, and Raph could hear Donnie correct his earlier statement nervously. "Well, maybe not."

Raph rushes to the railing of the balcony and observes how Leo's expression turns from shocked to angry, before the blue banded turtle hurriedly darts a look straight back at him on the second floor balcony to check if they were okay.

Leo feels content at seeing no injuries on his brothers, and points with his sword at the doorway leading to the stairway that goes higher up the building.

"Donnie, Raph, go upstairs and check the whole building for any sign of Jaylene, or anything that could be useful to find her", he instructs his two brothers, and they immediately dash to the entrance of the stairs while the blue banded turtle gestures for Mikey to join him on the battle on the bottom floor along with Casey and April. "We're staying down here."

* * *

"Hurry, hurry, hurry", Donnie says with the pitch of his voice raising and dropping as he pushes the shell of his brother in front of him. The two were out of breath and sprinting up the steps of the stairway as fast as they could, but each time they peered over the edge to look below them, the kraang droids were advancing. The droids were only three levels below, but considering they were robots, they would not tire from running up a long flight of stairs.

A laser blast had unexpectedly shot up from the couple of levels under them, and it singed one of the tails of Raph's mask before it vanished when it hit the ceiling. A squeal from shock escaped from the red banded turtle's lips, and his running paced picked up more speed rapidly. "C'mon, move your shell Donnie!" He barks at his brother, though not intentionally aggressively.

All the purple banded turtle can do is nod in response and continue running for his life; hoping the arm of a kraang droids wouldn't suddenly reach out and grab his leg. But luckily, the adrenaline pumped more blood into his legs and pushed him to his limits, so he was able to sprint for a little longer.

He glances behind him in curiosity, and just as he suspected, no kraang there to grab his leg, no kraang to shoot him with their laser guns. "Over there! We're gonna make it!" Raph yells in between breaths and Donnie whips his head around to settle his brown orbs on the doorway a level away. It may not have looked like much, but it was the door to their safety.

Three words flash over and over again before Donnie's eyes when the door was very close ahead, _Please don't trip, please don't trip, _and just on the last step, he was unfortunate to stumble over from the excitement and lack of oxygen, but at the same time, his brother had grabbed him on the top of his plastron and hurled themselves at the door, unable to continue on his legs. They burst through the doorway and rolled across the floor, panting heavily with the occasional sound of a high-pitched wheezing coming from Donnie.

"We…did…it…Raph", the younger turtle speaks with pauses in the middle from the sharp intake of breaths. He shifts his eyes to glance at Raph who lay on his stomach, arms spread on the floor a few feet away from him, and suddenly feels the cold air tickle his feet.

Realizing the door was still wide open, he uses a small piece of strength to slam the door shut with the single kick from his foot, and pick himself up from the ground to lock the door. A kraang keypad was placed on the wall next to the door, and the purple banded turtle groans as he crawls towards it. "Too…tired", he spits out and resolved to damage the keypad with a shuriken, and even though he preferred to disable some wires, this option was the easier way, and would save them a lot of time.

A sizzling buzz was heard when the small metal star was embedded in the kraang keypad, and the red banded turtle grinned at the sound, having a feeling that Donnie had used his method of picking locks instead of some complicated, scientific process.

The moonlight had its presence on them once again, the beams shining on their shells as they lay quietly, taking time to rest. A thought popped into Raph's head at the feeling of the light against his body, and his head shot up to face the direction of where it was coming from. The sight of a tall glass window appeared in front of him, and gazing in the other direction, he came to realize they were lying on the floor of a hallway, but this hallway seemed to have many rooms peeking from the walls.

This area looked like a place for people to sleep in, like a hotel, though quite run-down. Finally taking in the details, he began to record mentally what this place looked like to describe to his brothers, Casey and April later, at the intriguing discovery.

This hallway, or level, did not look like it belonged in this building at all, from the beige carpeted floors stretching everywhere, the walls covered in old, pale red painted walls, and every single door seemed to have a plain light brown color.

"Donnie, Don, get up", Raph crawls to his brother who was leaning his shell against the wall and shakes him on his left shoulder. The purple banded turtle mumbles and his eyes are barely open. _Never mind, I'll let him have his rest, _Raph decides after he waited for his brother for a few seconds and pats Donnie's head as he sluggishly gets up on his feet.

"Just yell if there's any trouble Don. I'm gonna go exploring", he says. Glancing over his shoulder out of caution, Donnie remains in the same position, slouched and resting against the wall. The red banded turtle smirks and turns back around, walking further down the hallway of the unknown.

_Well this level is very empty…_  
Raph takes note of this to put his senses on high alert. He may be a trained, stealthy ninja, but he felt that none of his training was going to help in any situation at the moment. The red banded turtle pauses behind the corner wall, and peeks down the hallway before continuing.

_I really don't like surprise ambushes…  
_He wasn't sure if that was supposed to sound like a threat to an enemy, but concealing the statement in his head didn't sound very threatening, especially if a large group of kraang droids appeared out of the blue.

He begins to tiptoe from that thought in his head, and was curious to see what was behind the doors, but there were too many to investigate, and if there was even a single kraang droid in one of these rooms, who knows what would happen to him and Donnie.

_Maybe I should wait for Donnie to finish catching his breath before I go investigating. Two is better than one, _the prudent side of him suggests, and he chooses to go with that option.

Without hesitation, Raph spins around and hurries down the hallway back to his brother, but still walking very discreetly. A flash of green was seen from the corner of his eye while he was scurrying, and his feet root themselves into the floor, causing his body to jerk forward from the unexpected halt.

He exhales when he balances himself from falling into a face-plant and stiffly walks back a few steps, the crack of an open door coming into view. The red banded turtle felt extremely curious as to why this was the only door open, and quietly debates with himself on whether to investigate or not, but his curiosity took over and his hand is soon grasping the cold, spherical metal door handle.

He steadily pushes the door open, like he was slowly unwrapping a present and the sight of a plain room with a bed and nightstand appears before him.

A dark shadow looms over the room, giving the room a more ominous vibe, and Raph narrows his emerald orbs to focus his attention on the figure wearing a particular green hooded sweater that he hadn't seen in a long time. With his hopes lifted very high, he felt like he had to swallow a large lump in his throat and his voice cracks as he speaks.

"Jaylene?"

* * *

_**Fin**_

Finally got this baby up. I did say in the previous chapter that I will take a long time before this would be up, but yay I have finally finished it. More exciting in this chapter because of the dodgy kraang building, but they were lucky they didn't run into Darryl at the place. I would have put him in this chapter so Casey and him could square off, but I didn't want to rush into that moment yet. Hopefully the next chapter will be up by next week and if not, only a couple of days after next week since I have an important test on Wednesday. Please stop by to place a review even though it may be a short sentence or comment!

_Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT 2012_


	4. Caught

Raph timidly closes the door behind him just as the green-hooded figure turned around, revealing their identity to him. He held his breath in hope, but exhaled deeply, maybe a little too deeply, after seeing the full-face of the figure.

The girl standing confidently in front of him was no doubt, not, Jaylene. The familiar straight blonde hair was draped neatly on her shoulders, with the green hood covering her head and exposing only small bits of her facial features. It was enough though, for Raph's eyes to lock with hers, and for him to take her details before she would possibly attack him since he did just barge into her room.

Locking his eyes with hers was like he was gazing at his own reflection. Her similar emerald green colored orbs conveyed the exact same feelings he had rushing through his body. Anger, boldness gleamed in her eyes, daring him to make a move, make the first gesture or comment. Also in her eyes was fear, almost shining brighter than her anger, but she tried her best to conceal her expressions.

None made a sound or move, and Raph feared that breaking eye contact would trigger her to strike, and holding his stare was difficult, but it showed he was not weak.

His mind was soon lost in a trance, and the longer he kept his gaze, the more he began searching through his memories of where he had seen her; at one point it became clear to him, two years ago, at the dark end of an alleyway, was where he met her for the first time.

_Encountered. We encountered each other for the first time, _he corrects. The image of her reaction to when she had seen him was vague in his mind, but he now remembered her.

The turtle soon finds himself trembling slightly, not from fear, but he figured it was because they may have been standing and not leaving each other's gaze for more than twenty minutes and negative thoughts had already found themselves embedded in his head.

'_Donnie is wondering where you are. Don't break eye contact or she could press a button to alert the kraang. You're wasting time, the others downstairs may be in trouble'_, the words appeared in his mind and he couldn't expel them.

He felt more than ready to give up.

_I…have…to-_

"Impressive. A warrior who is not afraid to back down", the girl spoke, and Raph exhales much like he did before. He was relieved that she was the one who had chosen to look away, and he responded to the thought by easing the tense muscles he had become aware of that were tense.

He absorbs the sound of her voice all in one moment, how delicate it was, but it too had the confidence expressed like in her eyes.

"But I do not accept intruders. The kraang have a special warning alarm for when there are intruders, and if they are dangerous. The alarm seemed to have gone off, and you burst into my room shortly afterwards. The kraang have told me that if that alarm goes off, the intruder cannot walk out of the building alive", she paused, and did not continue; Raph knew what she meant without further explanation.

He couldn't walk out of here alive, none of his brothers did, but he was still going to try. He knew her statement was a threat to him, a warning, but what she didn't know was that he took threats as challenge; she seemed to have hinted from that sentence, that she would commence her first attack soon.

The red banded turtle monitors her every move, waiting for her to lunge at him with a weapon at hand, as his ones are resting on the handles of his sais, readily waiting.

His eyes are still fixed on her as she strides to her nightstand adjacent to her bed and places both hands on the surface, leaning against it nonchalantly. _She's stalling, waiting for when you're not ready, _a voice in his head suggests and he grits his teeth through his closed mouth to help him focus.

Sensing she was about to strike, Raph swiftly pulls his sais out from his belt and holds them above his head in an 'x' position as she grabs her whip from in the pocket of her sweater and lashes it at him in one fluid motion. The whip luckily misses him by an inch, but he could feel the rush of the wind from the weapon as it cuts through the air above his head.

The elegance of her movements are graceful as she cracks the whip above her head, an ear-splitting sound ripping through the atmosphere, and a queasy feeling settles in the pit of his stomach from the sound. His confidence begins to fade and even as he pounces at her with the sharp points of his sai, he feels uncertain of his choice of action.

The blonde teen performs a backwards handspring before his weapons strikes her; the outstretched arm that was grasping his sai, gliding over her abdomen when she arches her back and bends backwards.

Raph could feel the heat rising up into his cheeks from missing his opponent, and the fact that he could lose his balance and topple on top of her if he was clumsy, but he is fortunate that the girl has her head sucked into their combat, and not realizing the red tinge on his face and neck.

He blocks another blow from her fist when she attempts to roundhouse kick him, and ducks when she tries again. The oncoming blows from the thrashing of her whip were also hard to dodge, especially since she was very precise with her accuracy, though his luck allowed the battle to become even.

Every time he had a chance to land a punch, he let the opportunity slip through his fingers, thinking that her defense to his move would cause him to lose this one-on-one, and then he wouldn't walk out of the building alive. _Duck now, jump to the right, strike now! _

Voices in his head commands the red banded turtle of the moves he should make, and it irritates him because it was a little distracting having a voice yelling at him in his head when he made a mistake and when he should advance. However, he did have another voice in his head that increased its volume and was soon louder than the scolding one. _You could do it Raph, you will defeat her…_

Gaining his courage again, he gives a fierce growl and curls his fingers in his fist as the voice repeats in his mind.

He swerves to the left as her fist holding her whip flies at him and barely misses his right shoulder, and he bites his lip from the nervous feeling coursing through his veins before he drops shoulder, rotates his body to the right and grabs her wrist tightly with his left hand.

Raph then pushes her away from him, still holding onto her wrist and lifts his leg up to sink his foot in the area slightly above her waist on her right side, and her reaction to his kick surprises him. The girl crumples to the ground, and in the process, hits her head on the side of her bed from the impact of when he pushes her away from him with more force than needed.

As her body hits the floor, a loud thumping sound bounced off the walls, and Donnie must have heard it since he burst into the room a few seconds later. His eyes are immediately placed on the unconscious figure lying on the ground with her head lulled to one side and both hands rested on top of the spot where Raph kicked her. His grip tightens around the door handle he was grasping and his jaw gradually drops, to the point where Raph could see his bottom teeth as he stood next to him.

Raph could feel the guilt slowly eating away at him the longer he stared at her unmoving body, so he glanced in the other direction.

"Who's she?" Donnie asks when he too had ripped his eyes off of the girl and focused them on his brother. The red banded turtle thought hard to answer the question, but try as he might, he could not find the words to explain about who she is.

She was only a girl whom he encountered two years ago when he saved Casey from her wrath, but for the sake of Casey's embarrassment when his brothers had asked how he met his friend, Raph tweaked the story to remove her completely out of it.

Nevertheless, she played an important part in Raph's friendship with Casey as he met him through her in a way, and now that he had left her out of the story he had told his brothers, it was difficult for him to explain why he had fought her, and who she is, to Donnie.

The purple banded turtle could identify that his brother could not explain and walked towards the girl to catch a glimpse of her facial features. He bent down beside her and raised her hood a bit while Raph was shaking behind him and chewing his lip anxiously. "Well, why were you fighting her then?" Donnie inquires instead, thinking it may have been the better question to ask.

"I-uh-she-", Raph stammers, though he is saved when Donnie raised a hand to motion for him to stop talking for a moment. The red banded turtle stepped backwards and leaned his shell against the wall before sliding down to sit on the ground in a round-shouldered slouch, indicating the transition from feeling tensed to relaxed, regarding his brother who had just waved off the question he felt so worried about to answer. "Actually I may be able to answer that question myself if you can't and battled her for no reason", and Raph blushes in discomfort at Donnie's sentence.

"Earlier today, I mentioned to you guys about this teen named Astraea right? Well, I think this is her", he states, hoping to leave this impacting discovery stuck in his brother's head for a while.

"So?" Raph replies, wearing an understanding along with a clueless expression.

Donnie sighs exasperatedly in return. _I can never leave someone like him with a sentence to ponder on. Always gonna ask another question. _

"If I must explain further, I am pointing out that it is quite peculiar how she is the only resident in a kraang base, even though there are hundreds of rooms that are all empty–yes I checked most of them while you were busy with whatever–and since she had lived in this base for a while, she must have heard something about Jaylene, or possibly even seen her before. It's only a theory which is probably wrong, but it may have some facts that are true in it…" he explains and trails off, but Raph didn't need any more reasons to understand his brother's theory. He tilted his head and watched his brother pace back and forth, obviously lost in his very intelligent and complex mind.

Thinking back to Donnie's points, he wondered what the conclusion of his theory was. _Did he mean we should bring her back to the lair for questioning? Cause I don't know if that's a good idea…_

His inference was no doubt what Donnie was about to do, considering that he stopped pacing and gave him a sheepish look mixed with a hopeful one. The only reaction Raph had to the look was a groan and a face-palm as many thoughts of what Leo's opinion on Donnie's suggestion might be. _Hopefully this girl will know a lot about Jaylene, cause bring her home for questioning better be worth it…_

* * *

_Nope not worth it. It was so not worth it._

The red banded turtle grumbles in frustration when he had glanced at the girl's direction for the twelfth time that morning. And yet, there she was, tied to his brother's wheelie chair in the lab, sitting motionless, and she had been in that same position for nearly five days, but in contrast to Jaylene's coma for five months, Jaylene had won by a mile.

_Maybe she's also in a coma? I didn't hit her that hard did I? _

Raph had asked himself that question on the second day of her unconscious state. By this time, the guilt had already consumed him whole, and it was the only feeling that he had whenever he looked at the girl.

_What's here name again? Oh yeah, Astraea, _the turtle reminds himself and rubs his eye sleepily while throwing himself, another question. _Have I not slept lately? Maybe sitting here and staring-uh-observing makes time fly by…_

He leaned his shell against the backrest of the chair he was sitting on and murmured, losing his train of thought when he had almost flipped backwards from sinking into his seat too far. He shuffled as he stood up and quickly glanced Astraea once again, curious to see if she had seen him, but no, she clearly hadn't.

The chair rocks as he shoves it away from him and hastened towards the blonde teen. He paused halfway between the journey from his seat, that had now spun away, and the kunoichi tied to the other chair. His options were clear: to attempt to wake her up somehow, or wait, and she would wake up in her own time. He snorted at the second suggestion.

_And even I know I can't be that patient. _

Raph lingered in his place and shook his head to erase the thoughts that would stop him. Without any more hesitations, he persisted, but before he was to speak or brush his fingers against her skin to wake her, four words flashed before his eyes. _It may not work…_

He swatted his hand as if the words were like annoying flies, and said, "Astraea, wake up…gah I really don't want to say this but…please?"

After giving that request to Astraea he felt like an imbecile, believing that asking her to wake up like he was some prince charming would work. Face-palming, he trudged to retrieve his chair for him to sit on again, but stopped in his tracks at hearing a small, feminine moan of pain come from the other side of the room. He peered from the corner of his eyes and gasped, for Astraea, seemed to have regained consciousness.

It was a miracle that she woke up from a few soft words; however, now that she was awake, Raph was panic-stricken. He dropped to his knees and crawled on his knees to the wall near the doorway to flick off the light switch, which he did not even know why he had chosen to do so.

The room was now dark with the presence of a thin strip of light from the crack of the sliding door, and the red banded turtle began to crawl once again, but this time, it was to inform his brothers about Astraea's awakening.

"Leo, Donnie, Mikey, Casey, April!" he called out while flailing his arms in the air, but he immediately placed his hands on his sides at the single thought that he may have looked like Mikey with those actions.

Everyone in the living room tilted their heads in his direction with quizzical thoughts and expressions. "That girl…Astraea, woke up–wait, where's Mikey?" Raph says and pants, though pauses at the absence of his little brother.

A light flicking on catches his attention, and he could see the white shining light of a lamp, lit up in the lab. _Mikey, why can't you be more patient…_

He glares and narrows his eyes at the sign of Mikey already in the lab; growls furiously. He stomps back towards the lab, though pauses at the doorway with the gang standing closely behind him, as he stifles a laugh from the sight in front of him.

"The names Holmes, Shermike Holmes", Raph hears a voice say, and it did not take him a long time to figure out it was Mikey. The squeaky voice, and the attempt to sound threatening made him laugh harder, but from inside the dark room, in the center of the lab he could see Astraea seated in the chair, eyes wide with a slightly horrified look in them as she struggled against the ropes tying her hands behind her back. His eyes avert and settle on his little brother who stood behind her, though he could sense she was unaware of his brother's presence.

Sighing in frustration, he slid the door wider, allowing more light into the lab, and through the darkness, he sees his brother giving him an annoyed look in which he casually shrugs to in reply. He flicks the light switch on with his index finger only to interrupt his brother having a crack at interrogating the kunoichi, and as he strolls confidently towards Mikey, he slaps the back of his little brother's head with the back of his hand.

Astraea stares at the turtles in confusion as Raph storms towards her with dark clouds and lightning following him. One moment a 'Shermike Holmes' introduced himself, and the next, all of her enemies were gathered in one room and probably going to question her, when she figured out that that was the reason why she was brought here.

A few moments of thinking, and she decides to 'keep her cool', like Karai would in these situations once an angry looking turtle approached her, his hands gripping tightly onto the arm rests and his eyes drilling into hers.

She held her breath as he examined her closely and tilted her head to avoid eye contact. It was not because he had bad breath or anything, but she felt very uncomfortable at how close their faces are, though the turtle seemed to have not noticed.

Once he had moved away to sulk near the back of the group surrounding her, she opens her mouth to speak, and also beats Donnie to it. "No need for introductions", she says, hoping it would convey she was not afraid of them, and from their stunned expressions, she felt content in knowing she was successful, so she continued.

"I already know all of your names and who you are. Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael", she says and gestures with her head to each of them as she spoke, but froze at seeing Casey and April.

"So this is the prominent April O'Neil", Astraea said, and the corner of her lip twitched, converting her serious face into a risk-taking girl with a daring, cocky smirk. Her hood was no longer covering her head, and with one graceful flip with her head, she had her blonde hair draped on one shoulder instead of arranged messily. Her smirk grew wider when she spotted Mikey taking a step back, but Donnie and Casey taking a step forward towards her in April's defense, and stopped herself from laughing out loudly.

"Oh and I almost forgot to mention…" the blonde teen began, but Casey spoke out, not holding anything back, before she said his name. "Casey Jones", the dark haired man states.

The blonde teen chortled this time and managed to get out, "Yes, I was getting there, but my, my, someone is eager to introduce themselves", just after she shook her head and coughed to restrain herself again. She sighed and this time was the one to examine everyone's faces to check their reactions, but on the inside, she was not enjoying her actions and words as she felt like she was not herself in faking what she really wanted to say and feel.

Mikey frowned as he watched the kunoichi toy with them, like she knew everything about everyone. He fought the urge to do something to her since Leo would scold him, though he was pretty sure that he wanted to do the same, so the young turtle chose to pipe up to save himself the trouble from getting, in trouble.

Just as his jaw lowered when he was about to open his mouth, Astraea butted in stating, "It is easier to take down your enemies when you know what they are like…"and the orange banded turtle's face burned red from being hit by a wave of humiliation, though the humiliation was replaced by a satisfied feeling in his chest when his brother has a rage at the blonde teen.

"Who do you think you are?!" Raph asks angrily, annoyed at her attitude, though she was not at all terrified or bothered by his tone, and replied, "I believe I am a prisoner here…but not for long."

The red banded turtle blinks and was bewildered by her response.

"Meaning?"

"Karai, the Footbots and possibly even Xever will rescue me."

He mutters when she replies and takes long strides forwards, pulling on his furious face. "And how could you be so sure? Do you really think you could trust Karai…and Shredder?" Raph counters and adds, "It's been five days since you've been here…face it…they're not looking for you."

At his statement, the blonde teen senses that the walls of her confidence and her stoicism may have been torn down by this particular turtle. He seemed to be the only one capable of challenging her and standing up to her fake arrogance. He caused her to blink back tears.

"Raphael, enough", Leo says instantly and firmly, seeing the pang of hurt in Astraea and Raph crosses his arms at his elder brother's order.

The red banded turtle didn't know what his brothers were thinking, or everyone else, but he was feeling quite proud of himself, even if Leo didn't believe it. _You have finally found your match Astraea…_, he says in his mind, and glares daggers at the girl tied to the seat, but his achievement was brief with Astraea having another reply to to throw at him as a counter statement.

"They will. I know it", Astraea replies, her voice sort of shaky, and even she could identify the twinge of doubt in her sentence. Everyone in the lab exchanges looks at each other when they heard her sentence, as Raph exhales tiredly.

_This is going to be a long day…_

* * *

_**Fin**_

Hah, that was exciting, and took a while to write. Apologies for the lateness…

I thought it'd be a piece of cake to write, but guess not. I'm thinking that next week the updates will be late, most likely, because I don't know when I can update. I'm kind of just taking any spare time I have to update, so the endings will seem rushed, but I tried my best.

Onto the story though, sadly, the green-hooded figure is not Jaylene, but then this story would be a lot shorter if it was. Raph has been blowing off steam more often since he was disappointed that Jaylene was not at the building, so he's acting kind of strange if that's what you thought. In the next chapter, more about Astraea will be revealed, including Xever's short mention and it will lead to the main plot of the story. Thanks for reading and please review even though it may be a short sentence!

_Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT 2012_


	5. Ask nicely

**Captured For Interrogation: part two**

"Nothing personal", the blonde teen says calmly and confidently, the tone of her voice very nonchalant. She bites back a smirk and keeps a straight face as she watches Leo, Raph and Mikey grasp tightly onto Casey's arms; holding him back from reaching her. Her response to the raven haired man irritated him, and Astraea smiles inwardly. _Think I struck a nerve._

"Nothing Personal?! You strangle me with your whip, and you don't call that personal?!" Casey shouts at the teen tied to the chair. He growls when she shrugs, and it irritates him even more. Why would his friends not want to release him and let him have a go at this extremely confident girl? They probably wanted the same thing; it's not like he'd hurt her that badly, but Leo of course, wouldn't allow it.

This was the second day they had been trying to talk to her ever since she woke up, and she was playing them like a violin, each of them a string of the instrument; when she plucked them, she sent shivers down their spine like the vibrating of the strings. Not that she scared them, but more that she annoyed them because she dodged the questions they threw at her.

_She thinks she's so cunning and clever, _Casey grumbled in his mind; his struggling gradually decreased until he was still, and Raph was the only one left gripping onto his arm.

The red banded turtle feared that his friend would charge at Astraea once he let go; he didn't want that happening because she could have essential information, but secretly, he wanted to teach her a lesson through Casey since her attitude was a nuisance.

"Raph, I won't do anything", the twenty year old mutters under his breath roughly, and glances at April who stands aside next to Donnie, with the scolding look on her face and crosses her arms. He scowls in defeat and pulls himself away from the turtles behind him, shoving his hands in his pockets moments later, though Astraea was enjoying his brief rages; decides to taunt him through her truthful words and casual tone.

"It was merely something I had to do to teach you a lesson. I do not care for the Purple Dragons that much, but it is my job. You were interfering with…whatever they were doing", the sixteen year old states, her lips curling into a mischievous smile. She blows a strand of hair dropping over her eye with the corner of her mouth, and in the same split second, she feels herself raised off the ground rapidly, and viciously. Her smile vanishes and her arms and legs are weighed down by the chair as she could no longer feel the ground beneath her feet. Her sweater is tugged as Casey grips onto the smooth, green fabric with both of his hands, bringing her closer to meet his blazing eyes filled with anger, along with his glaring expression.

"Hurting a shopkeeper!" He barks directly at her face, answering the question that was unasked. "I tried to stop them from continuing, but you helped them! I think you're the one that was interfering, while I was rescuing!"

Astraea's hair flows behind her from the wind caused by Casey's yelling. She shuts her eyes when he talked, and slowly opened them one by one when the twenty year old's temper had died down. Raph and Mikey stepped up beside Casey and grabbed his upper arms with both their hands reassuringly, and so he would loosen his grip; put Astraea down gently.

Casey, still dazed from his yelling, loosened his grip on Astraea's clothes, but instead of putting her back on the ground carefully, he let go completely of her, and she collapsed to the floor with a thump, landing on her left arm and the side of her face hitting the floor. The wheels of the chair scraped against the ground from the impact, with an ear-splitting sound ripping through the air. The blonde teen winced, then whimpered from the pain, but fought he urge to ask for help, thinking that it would show them she had given in, and she was oddly in luck, as no one seemed to have noticed yet.

"I'll take Casey home guys", the red headed woman offered abruptly and made her way to the raven haired man. Raph nodded to indicate he accepted as he released Casey; grabbed Mikey's arm to motion for him to do the same.

As April led Casey out the lab, a groan escaped Astraea's lips accidently. She grumbled at her mistake, but she was scrambling to get back to her regular position. _Nice going girl, you just got their attention without trying to, _she growled at herself and followed it with a roll of her eyes.

"C'mon, get up", She mumbles inaudibly, and pushes herself off the ground with her hands pressed flat on the cold surface, but is distracted at a warm liquid tricking down the side of her face. A thought crossed her mind, and she instantly figured the liquid was not sweat, but blood.

_Casey Jones…that was his payback. Dropping me on the ground…_

She was silent once the thought was gone, and the thin stream of blood ran down her face, the drop moved every passing second; the silence in the room thickens and stretches, as if time was like the bread dough being stretched and kneaded when handled. She felt all the eyes of her enemies laid on her, the color of her face reddening when she places her hands and feet under her in an attempt to get back up, but to no avail. She wished for the ground to swallow her up to avoid the embarrassment, and she felt so sure her enemies would leave her there, mocking her after all the stress she caused them.

Astraea was more than ready to give up and lie on the ground, becoming one with the floor, when tough hands grabbed the back of her chair and settled her upright again. She didn't think it was possible for her face to turn a darker shade of red, but it did, and she realizes they may not be as evil as she thought, or was described anyway.

"I – uh'', she stammers, and looks up to meet the dark blue eyes of Leo, who helped her get up off the ground. The teen tries to smile for gratitude, though her lips do otherwise. They remain in a straight line.

The second time, she begins to open her mouth again and a voice cuts in. "Yeah, you're welcome. I know you were gonna say 'thank you', and couldn't just…like…Karai", the blue banded turtle says; slows down when he mentions Karai's name. He then nervously laughs quietly, so his siblings wouldn't hear it, like he was reminiscing some special moment.

_Seems like he had something special that he just remembered, _Astraea smirks as the turtle averts his eyes away from hers and looks behind his shell as if his brothers knew what he was thinking and was about to tease him, but only one person sensed his thoughts, and it wasn't any of the turtles.

"Leonardo", Astraea whispered.

He was up on his feet, no longer kneeling in front of her, but paused at her voice when his back was turned on her. The blonde teen wished she could reach out and touch his hand to comfort him because she spotted the hurt on his face straight after he laughed–hysterically laughed–to himself, but her hands were restrained. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She shared the same problem with him, with the same person.

"I know Karai was the kind of person to not show gratitude, and, I have been doing the same thing", the teen admitted, and strangely, her chest felt lighter than heavier from regret. "Apologies", she said, but spoke louder this time, and made sure the others in the room heard her.

She took another deep breath, and she chose what her heart and mind were both telling her to do. "I have not been very fair, I have figured."

"You got that right", a voice–Raphael's voice–mumbles from the other end of the room, though louder than he wanted it to be, and Astraea sighs exasperatedly in return. _What is his problem?!, _she screams in her mind; her nose twitches from keeping her expressions neutral while her mind was sharpening mental daggers to throw at the turtle.

"Yes, thank you for the help Raph. I am feeling certain that I will not be released until I answer a _few _questions", she states and stresses on the word 'few' to make her point clear.

She is disappointed by her enemies' reactions though, when they exchange uncertain looks at each other, and she is baffled by this. _Great. My only escape option, and they do not trust me, _she thought angrily.

There were several whispers and hushes, with the turtles having their shells facing her, and they huddle in a small circle, discussing what she said and what they should ask.

"Obviously we need to ask her if she knows anything about…Jaylene", Donnie says after the whole time of silence and stillness. The others nod without hesitation knowing that was the top priority, and quickly glance over their shoulder to check if Astraea was listening, and she had heard every single word.

She was too busy in her thoughts to respond to their little discussion though, and the word that stuck out the most was 'Jaylene', or, it was rather a name. A piece of her felt like she knew the name, but the rest of her didn't. And why was that?

The voices of the group huddled across the room had died down, in the blonde teen's head anyway. Despite her excellent and accurate hearing, she flicked her senses off on listening to their hushed whispers, and dug deep into the knowledge she has to find out if she knows the person with the name 'Jaylene'. She bows her head and steadies her breathing as her eyes are squeezed shut, deep in thought.

A minute passes and she gasps when she exhales the breath she had been holding and opens her eyes. _Why was I even holding my breath? _Astraea questions, and shakes her head at the realization of how it usually helps her to concentrate.

She senses a movement beside her and tilts her head up to face all four of the turtles surrounding her with questions that'll burst out of their mouths soon enough, but when her eyes drift over their faces, she became aware of how different they all were. Leonardo, whom she guessed was the leader, since he was the eldest by the looks of it; had dark blue eyes, kind and bold, and a small smile snuck up her lips at the thought, _This is why Karai used to tease and spar with him. He's quite the opposite to her…_

_Donatello and Michelangelo seem to be younger than Leo, so both are the younger brothers. Donatello has the same look of kindness as Leonardo, but not as bold, and more…gentle. Michelangelo has a cheeky look, probably being the youngest after all. Has the sort of young, adventurous expression, but both do not look like they trust me very much with the unsure part in their eyes, _a voice says in her mind as she carefully eyes them, but when her green orbs come to a halt at Raphael's, a cocky grin settles on her face.

She knows in an instant that this was the turtle she had seen a few years ago. _The one that kicked me in the back when we had just met, _she adds. Her mind flashes images of when she battled him in her room, and she realizes that this Raphael in front of her was different from the Raphael she met recently; two years ago. He hadn't changed a lot with his physical features, but this one had confidence and more maturity. The emerald green orbs she'd seen before had anger, too much anger, and now, they showed calmness, with only a twinge of fury in them.

She then drops her gaze to her lap at wondering how long she had been staring at them for, and she couldn't help it. But like she said before, 'It is easier to take down your enemies when you know what they are like', though her observations on them weren't to take them down. At the moment she was neutral to them, and vice versa, so it was only a couple of thoughts to her head, nothing she would use to cause any harm.

One of the turtles gave a cough for her attention, and she lifted her head to face whoever made the gesture. Turning her face to Mikey, who held his fist close to his mouth indicating he was the one who made the gesture, he asked, "Um, why were you staring?"

"You looked like you could read our minds Y'know, sort of odd…" Raph added curtly, though with an unsure tone.

Astraea gulped, taken aback by the question, and sucks in all the counter comments that she would have said. "I cannot read your minds, but I was interested to see what you all were like up close. For two years Shredder and Karai have told me you were all evil, and I believed them, but now, aside from a battle, you all seem…different. Better."

She spoke every word with truth and flushed when no one replies for a while when she expected them to murmur to each other or chuckle. But their reactions were nothing like she imagined. They were stunned from her reply, but Leonardo was the first to crack a smile after minutes pass of no responding, sending a wave of relief to wash over her. _Thought for a second that they were going to mock me…_

"Thank you Astraea, but one thing I did catch was that you worked with Shredder for two years? Why two years?" the blue banded turtle inquires. _Smart, smart turtle, _Astraea sighs.

She did her best to not emphasize on her time training with the Shredder, which would eventually lead to explaining her whole life story since there were many holes that she couldn't fill herself, and with the help of others. The Shredder told her to forget about her broken past and focus on her new, improved life with the Foot Clan, but how could she forget when she doesn't even remember all of it? Between the lines, he was ordering her to erase all the traces of who she was and create a new identity for herself. In some ways she wanted that, but inside her would always remain her small fragments of memories that she had of her life before.

The teen rolls her head in a circular motion in stress. Shredder wants her to forget her past life, and the turtles want her to remember them now, but she had no other choice because she was desperate. _Well, this is my only escape route, _she thought to give herself encouragement and huffs as the cogs and wheels in her mind spin rapidly to find where to begin.

"Well, the story is complicated, but quite short. There is not much to my life anyway", the blonde teen informs the group so they would listen in closely.

"I guess I could begin at the fact that I am an orphan. Yep, ran away from the orphanage because I was not enjoying my time there, and moved to another one. I was put in a foster home care at eight, but I ran away from that as well. Did not like it there. Kids were always beating me up constantly, and bullying me. So, I am a runaway orphan AND runaway foster child", she spoke, but paused, and Donnie hurriedly pushed in a question at the second.

"What happened to your parents?" he asks.

_Geez, these turtles take in everything they get. Was hoping they would not ask me about that…_

Astraea sucks in a sharp breath and slowly replies, "I…do not know. Been told that I was dropped off at three years old and had…bruises and cuts all over. Yeah, I am a messed up kid."

_Really hoped they did not take in so many details. Definitely did not want to explain that, _she thought.

But without permission from her brain, the words are blurted out from her mouth and she feels a punch of remorse in her gut after speaking.

"I have a photo of me when I arrived there in the pocket of my sweater, want to see it?"

She felt as if she was under some kind of truth potion to have the craziness to blurt out the suggestion. She wished her arms were free so she could face-palm.

Raph raises his right eyebrow at her sudden question, but does not react with any other action to answer her. Donnie only stares at her with a quizzical expression, speechless at why she would ask such a thing, while Mikey, is the lone turtle who responds differently and reaches his hand out as a gesture conveying he wanted to see the photo, but Leo disagrees and slaps the back of his brother's hand to stop him.

The orange banded turtle retracted his hand from his brother's signal of slapping and frowns, indicating for Astraea to continue telling her story. "So, when I was ten, I was living in the streets for a long time, four years to be exact, and somehow wounded up lying next to the Shredder's car, though I did not know it was his at the time. A figure came out of the car and was about to beat me up because I was doing so, but I apparently flipped him on the car hood and he fractured a shoulder."

"Apparently? Why did you _apparently _do those things?" one of the brothers ask, but the blonde teen does not look up to see who asked the question, though replies without hesitating.

"I do not remember any of this as the Shredder witnessed this. He took me in and took care of me because he says he sees the potential in me. He told me what had happened afterwards. He even found my birth certificate, and a certificate of the orphanages and the foster home care I stayed in. Some scientists he hired helped research my background before I was allowed in the Foot Clan. I have been training with them for two years now", she finishes, and waits for the questions to be thrown at her or and conversation between them breaking out. Three seconds pass, and everything comes at her at once. It sounded like a million comments and questions had flooded out of their mouths, regardless of the fact that there were four figures and four mouths.

"Is the Shredder that nice to take you in just like that?"

"How come you didn't remember everything that happened to you before you met Shredder, and his scientists had to research it to find out?"

"What happened in the two years?"

"Did you meet Jaylene?"

Those were the questions that stood out to her, but all stopped coming when the name Jaylene popped up in the sea of words. Four pairs of eyes were laid on the youngest turtle, who had said the name; blushes and shifts his weight nervously at the orbs frozen, and staring at him. He felt, and looked like he was a five year old who had stolen and eaten a cookie when not told to, with the nervousness, guiltiness, and sheepishness all flowing off him in waves. The young turtle gathers all the pieces of his confidence left and says bravely, "Yeah you heard me. Did you meet Jaylene? Because if you were with the Foot Clan two years ago, Jaylene would have been there at the time…when you joined I mean. You should have seen her before."

_What is he talking about? I have never met Jaylene, let alone know who she is, _the thought comes to her mind as she puts on a look showing her perplexed expression.

"Michelangelo, I do not even know who she is, so please, enlighten me", she replies and is shocked when the orange banded turtle smoothly uses his thumb and jabs it in the direction of Raph who stood adjacent to him. The young turtle was being cocky, and she couldn't believe she was younger than him by a year.

Her focus averts to the red banded turtle and she gives him a look so he would talk immediately. The seventeen year old lifts his hand and rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably, lacking the feeling of need to inform her about Jaylene, but he reminds himself that this was a small part to play if he wanted girlfriend back. "She has chestnut-brown long, wavy hair and is shorter than Mikey by a couple of centimeters. Steel blue eyes, very strong, she was brave, skilled in taijutsu, kunai jutsu, and she was–"

"Special?" Astraea offers the word abruptly, at seeing the same glint of happiness in his eyes that Leo had when he thought of Karai. It sparkled, and she swore she saw a smile twitch on the corner of his lips at thinking about Jaylene. Her best bet was that Raphael had something special for this, Jaylene, and that girl did have too. But as much as she was fond of love like any other girl was, she had to focus on answering their questions so she could escape. _No time to help a couple in love, _she said to herself.

"Ahem", she coughs, and the turtles are pulled out of their daze as she speaks again. "So, am I supposed to know this Jaylene?" and Mikey still having a bit of confidence in him left says, "Yes, yes you should."

He turns to look at all of his brothers and said with a smart tone, "Do the math guys…and Don. If Astraea joined the Foot Clan two years ago, who else was taken to the same place, at the exact same time?"

Mikey crosses his arms and eyes each of his brothers, like he heard their thoughts turn on to ponder on what he stated. When their faces lit up, Donnie was the first to respond. "I actually did consider that before Mikey, though I haven't done the math for that when **I** came up with the theory because we didn't meet Astraea yet, so I wouldn't have counted and-never mind", the purple banded turtle stops before he could continue to allow his brother to have his short while of praise. He would feel guilty for taking away the glory from Mikey since his little brother rarely had these moments.

The orange banded turtle beamed at and did a little victory dance consisting a moon walk, spinning on his shell and a wave of his arms, celebrating how he was able to think of that, despite the fact he was not the first one to think of the theory, but his happy moment is cut short at Astraea interrupting, again. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I have not met her nor have I seen her", she repeats her first statement firmly. "And to answer your other previous questions, yes the Shredder is kind enough to take me in and train, though he was not the one that trained me", and she held bowed her head to motion to them she would continue without any outbursts.

"When I arrived at…wherever he took me–I did not know as I was blindfolded to keep me from knowing the location–these scientists told me to sit in a chair, and they asked me some questions. I heard some typing, and a few minutes later, they told me I had _Motivated Forgetting_; quite a worse case at that. I must have had something painful in my past, that I force myself to forget what had happened which is why I only remember some simple events."

She closed her eyes at the sentence, mind stopping at a memory, remembering only searing pain, something electric coursing through her veins, body and her limbs violently jerking as if she was having a seizure. That was the worst memory she had, and she knew that she was not doing that because of a couple of kicks to the stomach by the other kids, but the question was, why did she remember that, and what happened? All the years on the streets gave her time to think about it, but even four years didn't give her enough time to find the 'what' and the 'why'.

"And to answer Leonardo's question–I think–was that, I met Karai and I think she disliked me instantly, though I never knew why", she stopped and flicked her gaze to Raph whom she suspected, had a look prepared for that sentence, showing he probably loathed her as well.

"But, I became her henchwoman anyway, and trained under Xever."

"Ya mean Fishface?" Mikey blurts out. He grins cheekily and sheepishly.

"Is that what you call him? Well, he dislikes you all, and told me about Shredder and Splinter's story", she said and gives a cold, hard glare at each turtle, the glare becoming harder as she moves down the line, and is surprised when they wear an expression, that conveyed they knew something extremely important that she didn't. And every brother was wearing it. The blonde teen narrows her eyes as Leo speaks.

"Y'know, I don't think Xev–Fishface–has been honest with you, or he didn't know", the turtle spills out slowly, drawing Astraea in from each word. He sighs with an uncertain look before beginning to explain the real story, the truth, about what happened between Hamato Yoshi, and Oroku Saki, and once he is done, Astraea feels a mixture of confusion, slight anger, and untrustworthiness towards both the turtles and the Foot Clan, not knowing what to listen to.

* * *

_**Fin**_

Well that's finally done! I can't believe I didn't update for over a month, and so sorry to all the readers for that! I think I accidently deleted some ideas to help with each chapter, like the dialogue and main points, so I had a hard time figuring out some details for this chapter. I don't think the weekly update thing is going to work, so please be patient, and I'll try my best to update whenever I can. Please continue to read even with my sluggish updates and remember to review!

_Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT 2012_


	6. The Buried Truth

His dark blue orbs dart from left to right as he watches for any sudden movements. He may be a stealthy ninja, but sneaking out of the kitchen to deliver some food for Astraea was not one of his strengths. Not that it was a common task though.

It was against his brothers' wishes to bring her any food, and he felt the powerful fist of guilt punch him in the lower abdomen when he agreed to the rule…at first. She hadn't really helped them gain any information closer to finding Jaylene, though she seemed to have done her best to try and remember.

He wrestled with his thoughts to decide whether or not he should give her anything to eat. She is their 'prisoner', but he couldn't let her starve. It pained him that she told them everything she knew, and they didn't give her anything in return.

'_It's because she's the enemy Leo. Don't you understand that?', _his second to eldest brother said with anger dripping in his voice, echoing in Leo's head; the words came from the conversation a few hours earlier that day. They were the ones that rang in his head, giving him a headache at thinking about it so much.

_I do understand Raph, and I don't want to show hostility like you do, _Leo replied to his brother's voice in his head. There was no point to his reply, but the blue banded turtle wanted to feel some sort of security, confidence, so there would be no regret. But he mentally sighed at his brother's opinion, knowing the real reason for Raph's dislike for Astraea, was because of the times they let their guard down around the enemy, meaning, the time when Jaylene and Leo let their guard down. To Darryl and Karai.

The blue banded turtle was the first to make a mistake, trusting Karai because he believed there was good in her, and because his crush on her blinded him. When she turned on him, his heart broke into a million pieces. Raph never let him live his mistake down. Karai may be Splinter's real daughter, but she was living with the Shredder, and Leo had to forget about the good in her for now.

Jaylene made the second mistake, hoping Darryl would also convert to good, but her mistake had almost cost one of the turtles to never return, from being captured by the enemy. Once Leo explained to the non-listening red banded turtle about the situation, Raph did not want for them to make another similar mistake by letting their guard down around Astraea, because Jaylene had to make up for mistake by her sacrifice, and Raph lost her for two years as she is MIA, or dead, which Raph didn't want to believe.

As these thoughts and suggestions unraveled like a ball of yarn of his mind, he continued to slink steadily towards Donnie's lab; had almost jumped in surprise from the appearance of the youngest brother, only just catching the single slice of pizza from hitting the floor. His hand shot out from the position on his side to swoop the pizza from under its base, and he raised his arm to wipe the bead of sweat that trickled down his temple after his save.

He then shifted his eyes to watch his little brother. _Mikey, I thought you were in bed, _the blue banded turtle muttered in his head, and then spoke the exact same words after making sure suspicion was the last thing on Mikey's mind. The dark blue eyed turtle felt reluctant to say anything to Mikey, but it was too late when he had been spotted already.

The orange banded turtle rubbed one of his eyes with the back of his hand sleepily, and blinked slowly to focus. "What time is it Leo?" he asked, obvious he was groggy from waking up late at night. The elder brother mentally breathed a sigh of relief, and shakily chuckled. He was glad his brother was oblivious and uncurious at the moment. "Mikey, I think it's around 11.30pm. You should go back to bed", he replied and paused for a second. "What are you doing up anyway?"

The freckled turtle yawned, curling his fingers into a fist and raised his arms high above his head to stretch, before answering Leo's question. He blinked slowly once again, and his sentence exited his mouth in a half-whisper, mono-toned voice.

"Came too get a midnight snack, but since it's not midnight yet, maybe I have to wait maybe half an hour until I could eat and–hey! What are you doing with that pizza slice?" the young turtle answered, then rambled to himself; unfortunately, he turned the table and had taken notice of the pizza Leo had on the plate in his hand. His eyes stared at the pizza slice as if he were in a trance, and he transformed from groggy to hyper at the sight of the pizza.

_Hopefully this isn't the pizza slice Mikey was saving for his midnight snack, _Leo thought, and squeezed his fingers together with a tight grip. Would his brother disagree to what he was about to do if he told him the truth?

His little brother was not a turtle of justice like he was; however, Mikey had a personality to pity others easily, and may agree to Leo's choice. The blue banded turtle weighed out his options, and he remembered the feeling of his stomach dropping when his little brother asked the question, reminding him that maybe he shouldn't tell the truth, so, the turtle chose against telling his brother. The best thing for him now was to act…natural. Or in the least, try to.

"I was Y'know…doing the same thing as you! Just getting a midnight snack, that's all", Leo said nervously, unable to expel the shakiness in his voice. It was difficult to lie to his little–sort of innocent–brother.

Mikey eyed his older brother for a minute, and narrowed his eyes in the process, while Leo's face burned bright red; unbeknownst to his brother. "Okay, there's still some leftover pizza in the fridge right?" the orange banded turtle asked, convinced by Leo's reply before.

Again, the blue banded turtle mentally breathed a sigh of relief and congratulated himself for persuading his younger brother. But in the moment, he then wondered what the situation would be like if Raph was standing there instead of Mikey. _If only Raph were easier to lie to than Mikey, _Leo thought and shook his head gratefully that Raph wasn't here, though a small whisper in his head reminded him that the red banded turtle could appear soon by any chance, and things would not be pretty if Raph caught on to Leo's plan. He had to move fast.

"Mikey, I need to go to bed soon and…so do you", the blue banded turtle started, and quickly improvised on the spot, pointing out that his little brother also needed to get to bed. The tables were turned once again. "So, quickly get your pizza, and I'll be heading off to bed right now."

The blue banded turtle nodded in goodnight; stiffly, but hurriedly, walked towards the lab, as Mikey headed in the opposite direction for the kitchen when he accepted Leo's gesture, not taking notice of his brother's nervousness expressed through his body language.

Just when the blue banded turtle reached the two large doors of Donnie's lab, he was reluctant to enter, let alone knock on the door. His head was spinning from thinking about the possibilities that could happen, or more importantly, if someone–meaning Raph–was waiting for him in the lab, waiting for him to enter the room, and Leo could already feel the embarrassment from giving in–

_No, stop it, stop it. Keep calm Leonardo. Get ahold of yourself. Raph would be in bed right now, and so would everyone else, so no surprises would be waiting for you, _Leo told himself. When he curled his fingers into a soft gripped fist, ready to knock on the door, a feminine voice said from the inside of the lab, "Leonardo, I know you are there." He sucked in a breath and it was caught in his throat at the sound of Astraea's voice, but her tone wasn't mocking, and more, reassuring, encouraging him to enter as if it would give him refuge from being found out by his brothers.

And in one fluid motion, he slid the door open, wide enough for him to squeeze through and balance the pizza on the plate, and slammed the door tight, though silently enough to not disturb any of his family members in their sleep. By the time he was sure no one heard him enter the lab, he was panting because all his anxiety was bundled up in that moment, and luckily, he succeeded in his small mission, so the moment passed. The blue banded turtle straightened himself up and spun around, feeling pride as he walked towards the teenager tied to the chair. He placed the plate holding the pizza onto her lap, and warmth had taken over his stomach at seeing her face showing gratitude, but before she began to munch on her pizza slice, she decided to slip in a comment before the leader leaves.

"Went through all that so I could eat? You really do know how to impress a girl from no experience", the blonde girl said, and winked at the turtle. Leo choked at her statement, heart pounding at the realization that Karai would have said something like that. The teasing, cheeky, flirty expression conveyed in the words was of those similar to Karai's.

The feeling burned in his chest, but nevertheless, Leo concealed his real feelings. How he would have really reacted to Astraea's sentence would not be revealed, so he merely smirked, catching the sixteen year old girl by surprise. "You've been taking lessons from Karai on how to taunt me alone?" he asked. _Two could play at this game…_

"No, but even though I barely know you Leonardo–someone is approaching", she spoke with a teasing tone, but changed drastically immediately at her abrupt comment. Leo held his breath and froze, his mind blank of the options he would take. _Dammit Raph's probably right outside the door, waiting for me to come out and–,_ though his thoughts were cut off from a sharp push on his shell. He felt lucky he was mostly prepared for that, and sneaked a look at Astraea as he rolled behind Donnie's desk, who he figured was the one that pushed him with both her legs together when he froze up. She had helped him get out of serious trouble, and he wondered why she would do that when he replayed the same scene in his mind, but it was Karai instead of the blonde teen. Karai would have enjoyed watching Leo suffer physically, or from guilt at allowing Raph to catch him in the act, though Astraea was different.

_Maybe she's had a change of heart?, _but he answered his question at the thought of Astraea only lending him a hand since he had helped her first by giving her a little food. Her act suddenly didn't feel so special anymore, and the blue banded turtle frowned as he silently waited for Raph to open the door and yell at him.

The tension in the room was building as he waits for the door to slide open, and he looks to his left at Astraea. She keeps a straight, though 'don't mess with me' expression, and Leo is half-stunned at her stoic side, but he knows she is a tough nut to crack.

The door slid open wide, smoothly, yet without a sound that wouldn't disturb his sleeping family members, and he is confused since it's not Raph's style to make a gesture or an act without anyone not noticing it. He practically walks with thunder and lightning with him. As Leo cranes his neck to peak out from behind the desk to see who entered the lab, he does a double take at seeing Master Splinter. Out of all people in the Lair, why would his sensei be here, especially at this hour?

The blonde sixteen year old appears to be shocked as well when Splinter makes an appearance, though the shocked expression on her face dies down as the rat strides towards her. Her emerald green orbs drift across the room and settle on Leo, who began to creep slowly towards the door, keeping his head low, and not leaving his eyes from Splinter. Astraea couldn't help but gasp inaudibly when the blue banded turtle tuck and rolled, until he just passed the doorway, and her gasp was replaced with a sigh of relief.

Master Splinter's eyes were locked on the blonde teen; however, he spoke a few words loudly and clearly, not directed at the sixteen year old. "Leonardo, I will see you shortly." A small shuffle from outside the lab was heard, and Astraea didn't need any other indication to know it was Leo; that he obviously stopped and listened to his sensei. Small footsteps occurred shortly afterwards, and Leo seemed to have seated himself quietly on the couch when she saw the blue banded, green head sticking out from behind the backrest of the couch.

The sixteen year old kept her expression emotionless when she turned to face Master Splinter, though she couldn't keep the thoughts from circling inside her head. _Yes he is old, a rat as explained by everyone in the clan, and tall, but he looks…tired, and less, dangerous than I thought he would be. _She lowered her head and stared at the pizza on her lap.

_Okay, this could be an act, so I would not feel so guilty about thinking he is still evil…somewhere. _

She felt a finger being placed under her chin, and her face lifting up to meet a pair of soft brown eyes. "I am sorry for what happened to you Astraea, and I could not imagine the pain you have been through", the rat said to her in a kind voice. The blonde teen straightened her back when she heard what he had spoken. She wanted to believe that the things that have been told to her the past two years were true, but including the stories of the evil Master Splinter? Her mind was spinning from the contradictions between her thoughts and facts. But the words from her mouth spoke otherwise. "So you are an eavesdropper now?"

A chuckle erupted from Splinter as he dropped his hand to his side. "No, but rats do have excellent hearing", he returned, and spoke with a fact which he thought would lighten the mood, and was an unpredictable reply from his usual words of wisdom.

"I also know, you are feeling emptiness, Astraea. You have not found happiness and chose to run away from your problems to think. It will not help you to run." The sixteen year old was astonished at the end of sensei's statement. She knew, there was a strange feeling she carried for so long, and when she lived in the streets for four years, it gave her time to think, but in the long run, it wasn't very helpful.

"Will you not be satisfied until you know who you are? Your true identity, and not, 'Astraea'?" Splinter asked, and he could visibly see the teen girl in front of him with shoulders rising from his question. And she literally yelled when she replied, uncaring for who might have heard it in the second she decided to reply.

"Well who wouldn't want to know if your life was exactly like mine, huh?! How could you not want to find out who you really are, when you were a three year old, with bruises and cuts all over, without parents; who may have been the ones that dropped you off at the orphanage?!"

She took deep breaths when she was finished, and flopped back in her seat, the wheels grazing harshly against the floor when she leaned back. Hot tears trickled down her cheeks, and they left a burning trail on her skin from the heartbreak and anger she expressed.

Her only focus now was to escape, since she couldn't stay in this place any longer, with one person who had already broken her, without hearing her story with his own ears. She turned her eyes to spot the blue banded turtle, peaking from behind the backrest of the couch, his eyes wide from surprise at her outburst, and realized what she had done. _What am I thinking, yelling in the middle of the night? The last thing I want, is for the rest of them to come running into this scene_, Astraea growled at herself.

She averted her eyes from Leo's and looked at Master Splinter, and felt sort of glad that he at least, was not wearing a cocky smile at his accomplishment of revealing her inner thoughts and feelings. "I joined the Foot Clan, not only because I was showing my gratitude for Shredder helping me, but because I needed a fresh start. I needed to recreate a new identity so I could feel like I am actually someone who exists and am not an accident that needed to be ridden of", Astraea said, and smiled inwardly at remembering the moment Shredder gave her a name. A spark, an inspiration lit up inside of her, that she could be a new person, and she felt as if she was born again.

"And do you feel happier now, or are you still searching?" Splinter inquired, and Astraea felt astonished that he would continue to push on. _I wish he would just leave me alone, _the teen grumbled, and on cue, Master Splinter got up and left her alone in the room to ponder on his question. The dim light from the ceiling was her only company as the door slid shut, and muffled voices were outside, which she guessed was Splinter talking to Leo.

The silence was comforting, and soon, the voices were no longer there as footsteps thumping against the floor grew more distant, until there was no more. Astraea closed her eyes slowly and tilted her head to rest on the top of the backrest as she waited patiently for the right time to come, the perfect time, and hopefully it would arrive, soon.

* * *

_Three, two, one, _Astraea counted in her head, and when she had lost all the numbers to keep counting, her heart almost lurched out of her chest. _This is it._

She waited one and a half hours until this moment, and the time had come a lot sooner than she expected. The entire lair was quiet. No sounds of snoring even. And no one entered the lab for the whole time she waited, but they wouldn't have bothered her when she plastered a sleeping expression on her face, and faked soft snores.

The pepperoni pizza on her plate was long gone, settled inside her stomach with only half of the crust uneaten. The plate remained on her lap, and she was grateful for Leo to be so caring when he, in actual fact, was helping with her escape. Before she would put her plan in action, she needed to make sure no one was around, and not guarding the door outside. In order to make sure of it, she lifted her legs rapidly, catapulting the plate into the air. The circular dish came down to the ground as fast as it went up, and caused a loud, slamming sound as it hit the floor.

This was in no doubt, an accident, and if anyone was to come running in to the lab to see what happened, she would know they were waiting for her on the other side of the door. She tapped ten times with her right foot to count ten seconds, and no shuffling occurred in the living room, no footsteps, and no person saying, "Did you guys hear that?"

The blonde teen smirked, feeling the adrenaline rush, and excitement that her plan would take action right now. She wriggled her left arm that was tied behind her back, and a warm sensation coursed through her body at preparing beforehand, and before she knew she would be captured. But it would be irresponsible for her to be unprepared without any backup weapons, since ninjas were always prepared. Even kunoichis came with extra weapons up their sleeves. Literally.

Out her sleeve came a kunai, which she caught in her hand when it slid out completely. It was her second favorite weapon, her first being the whip she missed dearly, and immediately scanned the lab for it. Her gaze stopped on her whip laid on Donnie's desk, and she made a mental note to quickly grab it once she was free, and if anyone was to enter the lab anytime soon.

Astraea swiftly and hurriedly rubbed the sharp blade of her kunai against the ropes tying her arms together, and moved on to free her legs. As the roped tumbled to the floor, she sprang up on her feet, nearly collapsing at the same time, from feeling her legs again. When she felt she was stable and could run in the least, she sprinted towards her whip and snatched her weapon, before dashing out the door, but unfortunately, dropping her kunai in the process. Too caught up in the moment and unable to think clearly from the rush, she didn't realize when it slipped out of her grasp.

Astraea could feel her hands shaking when she looked left and right, looking for the exit, and the blood pumped through her faster than the normal speed. She had been knocked out when she was brought to this place, so she doesn't remember the trip here, or even when she was tied up to the chair, so finding the exit would be a little difficult. Getting out of here was her only goal when she woke up, though there were complications and she got sidetracked.

Her lip quivered at the thought that she had been missing for several days, stuck in the enemy's lair, and she is doing nothing but panicking and desperately attempting to escape. _Oh, the exit is right over there, _she told herself sheepishly at seeing the odd sight of turnstiles and the breeze of wind coming from the same direction. _Do they live in an abandoned train station?_

At realizing what the place used to be, she spun around to view the whole living room, fascinated at the years of work paid off, so this place was livable for them. "Welcome to the Lair. Sorry I haven't introduced you properly to the place since you were unconscious and all", a voice said from behind her, and she turned to face Leo, who was confidently leaning against the pinball machine and wearing a friendly smile. However, Astraea grew uncomfortable at how friendly the smile was, despite the fact that he had also shown kindness to her a few hours earlier.

"So you have been waiting for me this whole time Leonardo? Well, apology accepted, though my stay here will have to be cut short", the sixteen year old replied, plastering on a fake, friendly smile. She whirled around and began to hastily stroll towards the exit, but paused at Leo's voice. "Why are you going back Astraea? Don't you remember the truth of the story between Splinter and Shredder?"

Astraea grumbled, and turned to face the blue banded turtle once again. She stared daggers at him because she knew his plan was to slow her down and rethink if she should escape or not. "In Shredder's vendetta, my position is to stand beside him because he helped me when I was lost."

"He may have helped you create a new identity you are satisfied with, but what about your past identity? Aren't you still searching for answers?" Leo inquired. Astraea clenched her fists at his question, when she thought she had won the verbal battle with her comment. He had specifically brought in details that would give her second thoughts. He had made this conversation very personal, and it irritated her.

"So, everyone in the family is an eavesdropper? Hamato Yoshi, then you too? When I return to the clan, my past should not matter to me anymore. As much as I want to find out, I should not care for my need for answers", she snapped at him, took a deep breath, then sighed. The next thing would have to be the hardest part of her escape. The final stage of getting out of here would have to be a battle against Leo, whom she didn't want to hurt very much.

"I did not want to injure anyone in my escape, especially you Leonardo since you had helped me. Nevertheless, you have given me no choice. You are standing between me and my freedom. Are you ready to go?"

* * *

_**Fin**_

So sorry for the huge gap between this update and the previous update, since I had exams in the past few weeks, and had absolutely no time to work on this. In my spare time, I would finish homework from the other classes. But I have a two weeks holiday off school for now, and will hopefully be updating faster than usual! Thanks to all readers and reviewers continuing with this story! But please review!

_Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT 2012 _


	7. Home sweet home?

He reaches his hand behind his shell, fingers curling around the handles of his right handed katana, while he holds up his other hand in front of him in a defensive gesture. They haven't even begun to battle and his palms were sweating already. His grip was slightly slippery when he tried to grasp the handle tightly, and he was aware of his trembling legs.

It was peculiar as to why he was so nervous, because sparring with Karai wouldn't be any different comparing with now. And yet, he forced himself to lock his eyes with Astraea, like the act was his last dying breath. Leonardo was struggling.

He unsheathed his katana slowly, noticing Astraea's eyes were focused on his hands and not his eyes. She was watching his movements, and Leo thought that she was avoiding his eyes because she would not leave if she saw the look of plead in them.

The blue banded turtle's orbs moved on to watch her movements as well. She had her hands clenched, with her left hand holding her whip at waistline, and he was worried because he had only fought one other person–well, a robot–using a whip, which was 'Chrome Dome', as Mikey named it, though it was his little brother who defeated the droid. But with Leo's thoughts on his brother, he figured that fighting Astraea with a whip would be no different to sparring with the orange banded turtle using his kusarigama as his weapon of choice. However, Leo was merely giving himself false hope in thinking that.

The blonde teen gritted her teeth hidden behind her lips. She didn't know whether she was to make the first move, or the turtle. She had fought the toughest turtle, Raphael, and almost won, but she got the vibe that he was nervous fighting a girl. Or it was just her. Either way, she convinced herself that his victory was a fluke. And by this thought, she too was giving herself false hope like Leo. Her thought caused her to think that she had the upper hand, but against Leo, no one would really know.

As Leo prepared for any possibilities, Astraea jumped at this opportunity of weakness, sprinting straight at him. And a second before she would have crashed against him, she jumped and frog leaped over him, quickly using him as a support when she placed her hands on the top of his head, and pushed herself higher into the air. In the same manoeuvre, the sixteen year old grabbed the katana held in his hand and the second katana secured on his shell before rolling on the floor to break the impact, then standing a few feet behind him, twin katanas in her grasp.

Fortunately for Leo, he grabbed the whip that she placed on her waist belt last minute, as she snatched the katana in his other hand. He didn't even realize he had done it until he looked into his hand and saw her weapon, while his other hand was empty. Both glanced at their swap of weapons in unison, but while Leo was frowning, clearly stunned, Astraea was ready to burst out laughing. Of course, it wouldn't be suitable since the blue banded turtle was taking this fight very seriously, and she felt the need to feel the same.

"This will be very interesting", she said and smirked. It was the first sentence she was able to slip in after the long period of sparring silence.

Leo gulped. Here he was, holding a weapon he does not have a very good experience in using, and Astraea on the other hand, had his weapons, and seemed like she knew very well how to use them, judging from the stance she took with his katanas. Even her arms weren't trembling as much as his as she held his weapon.

No matter how nervous Leo was with using this, whip, that he was quite clueless about, he decided to test what he could do. He raised his arm and brought it down rapidly, letting an ear-splitting crack rip through the atmosphere of the living room. He hoped it was loud and frightening for Astraea, but she didn't move a muscle. Now he was back to square one. Feeling awkward and confused.

_What is the matter with Leonardo? He seems to have no clue how to use my whip properly, _Astraea thought as she stared at him. She didn't know if she should burst out laughing now, or pity him. Maybe she could do both.

_This is taking too long. What am I waiting around for anyway? I should just run now. I am close to the exit, have both of Leonardo's main weapons, and he has no idea how to use my whip. I clearly have the upper hand at the moment, _the teen thought, but her feet were rooted to the ground. She sadly sighed, and out of sympathy, she tossed both Leo's katanas back to him, without reluctance. She hoped that her gesture would lead him to let her leave.

When the blue banded turtle picked up both his weapons after hearing something clatter in front of him, he was shocked as to why Astraea would do that. She seemed like she had wanted the upper hand so badly, but after she had it, she turned the tables around. Not in the way for her to have the upper hand because she had it already, but for him to have a chance. And now, she had no weapons at hand. She chose to be very vulnerable.

But out of the blue, a strong cry rang out, and Leo's eyes darted to see Raph jumping at Astraea. He clenched his teeth anxiously, strangely not wanting Astraea to get hurt from his brother's sudden presence, but he wanted her to be defeated at the same time. _I should probably stop them, _the blue banded turtle thought, as he watched Astraea battle Raph with nothing but her hands and feet. He ran at the two battling and used his katanas to try pushing them apart.

He felt a sense of Déjà vu and realized the situation was similar to the time he tried to separate Karai and Raph at the Worldwide Genome Project building, and things went south. Leo shook his head, trying to erase the memory as it was a time when he allowed his feelings for Karai interfere with the mission. He hoped it would be different this time, and knew he was wrong the split second the pain came.

Astraea held a shuriken in her hand, droplets of red staining the sharp points. She hadn't cut him very deep, but enough to draw blood. There was no doubt she didn't want him to die, which is why she cut him just to distract Raph. And it worked.

Raph kneeled beside his brother when Leo stumbled to the floor, and Leo was clutching to his side where his palm and fingers were covered in red. The pain was not immense, but his heart was torn again for being too hopeful, and that brought on even more pain. He shut his eyes tightly as his head was spinning, and a hand was rested on top of his hands. His brother's hand. As he lay on the ground shaken up, the pounding of rapid footsteps echoed in his head, and he could feel the vibrations from the ground.

Leo wasn't surprised when he slowly rolled over and could see a blurry, figure dashing off. But he was surprised that his brother was not giving chase, not yelling for Mikey or Donnie to pursue. The red banded turtle remained at Leo's side, like he didn't even hear Astraea escape.

The blonde teen was hesitant to sprint as she snatched a glance at the red and blue banded turtle behind her, but it didn't look like Raph was going after her. Maybe he was giving up, and Astraea was hoping he was.

As she somersaulted over the turnstiles, her green orbs settled on an asphalt slated motorbike. She smiled inwardly in relief. There was finally a reward for her hard work.

The blonde teen strolled to the vehicle, not in a hurry to escape, but was reluctant to get on the bike to drive away…to her freedom. She looks back and sees the red banded turtle crouching next to his brother, one of Leo's arms slung around his brother's shoulder for support as he tries to sit up. Raph looks up and catches Astraea's eyes locked on them. He gave her a look that Astraea feared. And it was an indication for her to leave, now.

She tore her gaze from the turtles and jumps on the motorbike, reeving the engines before shooting off down the train tracks, her mind clear from any regret.

* * *

"I have returned Master Shredder", Astraea said. She bowed down in front of Shredder, who sat at his throne at the end of the room. He stared at her a few feet away from him, but didn't say anything. His eyes remained on her.

It was dark in the wide glassed room, moon still shining bright and high up in the sky. It eased the tension of the atmosphere, but she found it difficult to breathe without feeling so self-conscious.

Minutes passed, and the blonde teen hadn't dared to face Shredder. She had been caught before, staring at him out of curiosity, and was scolded at shortly after he left. They said it was rude to stare at him since she was too low for him, though she wondered why when she was Karai's hench woman. Astraea didn't even remember who 'they' were that told her not to stare and she didn't think her position was that low.

"Astraea", the deep voice said, making her almost jump. He grabbed her attention immediately from the loud, echoing voice. He could speak at a normal volume, and he would still sound as if he was using microphones to talk. His voice was that loud.

"Apologies Master Shredder, I was not aware you had spoken as I was too deep in my thoughts–distracted", Astraea said. It was true. This may have been the fifth time she was dazed and didn't hear what Shredder was saying to her. And everyone knew he disliked repeating himself.

Her orbs were glued to the ground for the whole time she spoke; till the moment Shredder spoke to her. And she didn't lift them as the sound of footsteps approaching closer to her grew louder, mixed with the sound of heavy metal slapping against flesh. She dipped her head lower, the top of her head nearly touching the floor, and the thought occurred to her, that maybe she did have a low position. Bowing so low clearly showed it.

Her heart stopped when Shredder unsheathed his gauntlets right in front of her, and though she could not see it, she could hear the rapid slide of metal of the blades. _He will not kill me, _Astraea convinced herself, but she was not confident in that statement since Shredder was quite unpredictable.

And all of a sudden, a ferocious crack on the ground erupted. She raised her head up a bit, and her eyes drifted down the long metal fist claw buried in the floor, a few inches apart from her hands.

Through all that, she did not move a muscle. Not even a flinch. And the fact that she had no reactions had surprised even her.

"Do you have any useful information on the turtles?" Shredder asked. Astraea flinched only then, but at the mention of them. The teen was reluctant to answer, not knowing whether to lie to Shredder, or tell him everything that happened. The first option would have unpleasing consequences if they didn't go her way, of course.

"Useful information?" She replied, deciding to take it slow. She tried to read his expression, but it was cold and hard. Too unreadable.

"You were held captive by the students of Hamato Yoshi. The turtles", Shredder stated, not asked. He paced some to her right, then to the left, but returned to the spot he stood on originally. Astraea gulped; heart thumping loudly like someone was rapping their knuckles against a door. She knew he was on to her, but did he know what really happened–the whole story?

"I-I do not Master Shredder, but I did–", Astraea began, and immediately stopped when Shredder abruptly interrupted her, his voice booming into the atmosphere, her ears, and over her whispers to him.

"Then I don't need you here to tell me something that does not concern me." Shredder turns at the end of his sentence and walks back to his throne, leaving Astraea stunned and confused. She mentally shakes her head, adjusts her lips into a thin line, and replies, "Yes, Master Shredder."

The blonde teen stands up, and spun around in the opposite direction, walking away in a moderate pace as she leaves her thoughts about the turtles in the room. Or at least thought she did as she exited the room. Once she took a step past the doorway, her thoughts of the turtles came crashing down on her again. She tried to push them away but she couldn't.

Astraea walked quickly down the hallway, chewing her fingernails aggressively in deep thought. Her head wasn't focused on her footsteps, or where she was going. Where ever her legs were taking her just felt so automatic, like it was another day in the Foot Clan.

As she turned a corner of the hallway, her thoughts vanished at bumping into someone. The person she was not looking forward to seeing.

The familiar dark hair, and smirk on their face caused Astraea to slip her hand back to her side, and stand straight. "Where have you been Astraea?" Karai asked, her arms in the air to emphasize her irritated, and angry mood.

"Why are you still awake Mistress Karai? It is past 1.00am", the sixteen year old replied, and realized her mistake quickly afterwards. Never in her time at the Foot Clan had she averted Karai's question, and asked her something when she was in a bad mood. She silently gulped at what was about to come.

"I know it's 1.00am, Astraea, and it is none of your business to know my whereabouts", Karai snapped back. Astraea opened her mouth to apologize and answer Karai's question, but the eighteen year old quickly cut in.

"Doesn't matter. But when you were missing for a week, do you know what I had to do?" The dark haired woman asks a question once again, and Astraea knew it was rhetorical, so she didn't bother to answer. And her guess was right. Karai would ramble like this for a bit before Astraea could walk past her.

"All the errands you should have done. Next time, you should think about other people first before you take off for your vacation", the dark haired girl yelled, and finally stopped, her tantrum over. She muttered, "Selfish", as she walked past Astraea, purposely bumping her in the shoulder as she did so.

The blonde teen sighed once Karai was gone. From relief, and misery. The scolding was probably the shortest one Astraea had ever received, and she never countered with anything. She remained silent, listening to the words raining down on her. "Goodnight, Mistress Karai", Astraea whispered; knowing that Karai wouldn't hear her. She was talking to air, but saying those words felt right. She wanted to show she still respected her.

Astraea whirled around and continued on her route as new thoughts came pouring in. _Karai did not know was missing. She did not care. She only cared that I did not do the things she wanted me to do, _she thought, and thinking it felt like someone grabbed her heart and squeezed it hard. It was painful.

Her pace picked up and she was soon jogging, feeling the need to get away from this main base to avoid Karai, Shredder and other people she didn't want to see just yet, but it seemed that the world was against her that day. For the second time in the same hour, Astraea slammed into someone unexpected. She thought he would be asleep at this hour, and not roaming in the Foot Clan base. Astraea was not trying to avoid him in particular either, but knowing him, he would without a doubt, be concerned about her when she was in this state.

"Astraea what are you doing up at this hou–what happened?" the red and white mutant asked. The blonde teen sneaked a peek to catch his expression, and he really was genuinely concerned for her. He was unlike Karai and Shredder, and was giving her a chance to share her thoughts with him.

Astraea kept her eyes glued to the ground and mumbled, "I am fine." She glances up at him briefly, giving a small smile and walks around him hurriedly. She keeps her head low as the distance between her and Fishface increase, and she is pretty sure he has turned to watch her leave, probably confused, but he won't stop her.

* * *

"Are you okay Leo?" the red banded turtle asks his brother lying the couch, some blood seeping between his fingers. He didn't know why Astraea would hurt them, and out of all people, it happened to be Leo. He knew Leo was kind to Astraea for the whole time she was at their home, and even he thought she would have a change of heart from that, but he guessed that evil, ruthless enemies never change. Especially henchmen of Shredder.

"I-I think I'm alright Raph", Leo replies in a raspy voice as he grasps his side where Astraea cut him. He was on the verge of tears from her move. He thought he really got to her, and was about to change her mind if she didn't have such a strong drive to escape from them.

"Good, because what were you thinking?!" Raph pounds his fist into the soft seat. He would have hit his brother's shoulder, maybe even softly, but he knew the blue banded turtle had gone through enough pain.

"What's going on?" a voice from behind them says joined by several footsteps. The two turn around and sees Mikey rubbing his eye sleepily, with Donnie right behind him.

_No, not Mikey AND Donnie. Wish Raph didn't have to yell so loudly that they'd wake up, _Leo thought, but was speechless. He wouldn't know what to say to his younger brothers. They sort of look up to him to be the leader, even if they can't express it, and how would he explain to them that he allowed Astraea to escape because he was about to trust her? Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Raph beat him to it.

"Leo over here thinks Astraea would change. I knew what you were up to the moment I saw you and her standing out here. You had your weapons, she didn't have any, and you looked too scared to hurt her", Raph said to Leo, though he knew both Mikey and Donnie were listening.

_Great, now Raphs making it seem like it's completely my fault. Most of it was, but it was partly Astraea's too. _The blue banded turtle covered his eyes with his hand in embarrassment. There was no way his brothers would respect him more now than before this incident.

And to make matters worse, Raph decided to have another go at his elder brother again. "See, that's the problem with you. You're too hopeful", the red banded turtle said. He stood up from his seat position next to Leo, but stopped when his brother countered his comment.

"You're one to talk", Leo said through gritted teeth. It was a mistake to take on his hot-headed brother, but he needed to let some steam out too. He would be further injured if the fight moved from verbal to physical though, and he took the risk anyway.

Donnie and Mikey took a step back together at seeing the heat and tension between their elder brothers. "Things are about to get ugly D", the orange banded turtle whispered into his brothers ear behind his cupped hand and Donnie could only manage to nod in response.

"Oh yeah, and why is that?" Raph shot back. He was boiling with anger now. "The whole Jaylene thing", and from those words, Leo sensed immediately that he was swimming in dangerous waters at seeing the look he created on his brother's face. The red banded turtle began to approach Leo, stomping stiffly, and angrily. The fact that his brother brought Jaylene up in that way angered him.

But right before Raph could bury his fist into Leo's stomach, Splinter came into the living room as he said, "It is not Leonardo's fault Raphael."

Raph paused at hearing Master Splinter's voice and lowered his arm. He slumped into the couch, grumbling about missing his chance, and glared at Leo on the other seat. He thinks Leo deserved a beating, but Splinter would never agree to that.

"I understand that Leonardo thinks Astraea will change. I talked with her a few hours ago, and discovered she had much pain in her past, so Leonardo thought she would change because we could help her find out more about who she is. Even miss Astraea did not know who she really is", the wise rat explained to his son. Raph muttered inaudible words under his breath and grumbled like he did earlier before asking, "But why would she go back to the Foot Clan. And Shredder?"

Splinter paused at Raph's question. He didn't know why she would go back to her Foot Clan life, but he imagined the pain she had, and figured that she still thinks going back to the life would be what she thinks is best for her.

"I do not know the answer my son, but I would think she is running back to the only thing she knows. The Shredder seemed to have helped her to start over, and she does not want to throw it away, though her curiosity may change her mind."

* * *

Astraea grunts as she falls on her stomach; the air pushed out of her lungs from the impact. Usually she would grumble from making such a mistake, but she was not in the mood today to put her mind fully into it. She was doing everything half-heartedly, and without her normal motivation of trying to improve on her skills. She lifted herself off the mat with her hands pressed flat on the ground, and pushed herself up, and in front of her eyes appears a scaly hand.

"Are you alright Astraea?" Fishface asks, concern written on his face. The same expression he wore a week ago. The one he had that very early morning when she returned to the Foot Clan.

The blonde teen nods, and accepts his hand. The mutant pulls the teen on her feet, the concern on his face un-changing. He didn't believe her for a second that she was okay. He could see her mind was somewhere else, and if not, she was just making every move two times the rate slower than her normal, rapid speed. She was also witty very often when it came to combat, and it she didn't seem to show it the whole morning of their training, or the days before that.

He had known her for two years, and never before has he seen her this way. Even on her first training day with him she was timid, and seemed like the kind of person that wouldn't hurt a fly. But when she put on a sports crop top, he saw the bruises and scars on her abdomen and her back. And seeing those marks, he knew she was a fighter.

But when he compared his thoughts then, to his thoughts now, something was definitely off about Astraea. And it seemed to have started after she came back from her disappearance.

The sixteen year old tiredly trudged over to a bench with her water bottle placed on it, and sat down on the seat before she grabbed her bottle and drank all the liquid in one go.

The teen closed her eyes, exhausted from the whole morning's worth of training and leaned back to lie down on the bench.

But from the moment her eyes shut, a vivid image of Raph kneeling beside Leo appeared in her mind. And as Raph turned to face her, her eyes flew open, but she didn't jolt before she sat up. She tried again, closing her eyes in relaxation, though to no avail, and she saw the same thing once again.

She had the same problem when she attempted to fall asleep after she reached her apartment in the early morning a week ago. It was like they were haunting her, a guilty conscience but she wondered why it would be a guilty conscience when she didn't feel guilty.

But pondering over her thoughts, she reached inside herself and found the guilt she carried. The guilt that haunts her. It may have been bothering her now and when she tried to sleep, but it was eating away at her very quickly.

_Did you have to hurt Leonardo? Did you make the right choice? Astraea, what happened that you're not telling me?, _and the blonde teen thought, and at the last question, her face had confusion clearly expressed. That did not sound like something she'd ask herself, but she felt a sudden tap on her shoulder, with a faint voice of a man calling out to her.

"Astraea? Astraea?" the man said, and Astraea shook her head before turning her head to face Fishface sitting beside her and tapping her shoulder.

"Apologies Xever, I was…too deep in my thoughts," Astraea said and smiled at the mutant as her cheeks were heating up and were soon scarlet red.

"What are you thinking about? And another question, what happened to you on those days you were missing?" Fishface inquires. Astraea could see he was very eager to know, but giving him every single detail could make matters worse. She considered the events something between her and the turtles, only. Especially after Shredder's dismissing attitude towards her. His, and Karai's.

"I was thinking…I just needed some time to think. About me being here," Astraea replies, which came from the thoughts in her head. _Never lied to Xever, but I had to do it. _

She averts her eyes from his and looks down at her hands rested on her lap instead. She twiddled her thumbs from the uncomfortableness in the atmosphere as Fishface continued to keep his eyes on her. The sixteen year old knew he didn't buy her reason for a second, but he wouldn't press on.

"Is this because of Karai, and Master Shredder?" the mutant asks. "Is it because you think Karai hates you again, and Shredder too?"

Astraea gives a small nod in return, but it was now her turn to ask a question.

"What happened when I was gone?" and Fishface was not hesitant to answer. "Nothing much. I was the only one that noticed you were gone, apart from Karai asking a few times because she had some jobs for you." He replied in a nonchalant tone, and the words were fluid coming out of his mouth.

Astraea's physical response was nothing. But she did her best to keep her face straight, though her reactions on the inside were quite the opposite because to Fishface, the sentence didn't mean anything, but to her, she received a completely different truth.

From what she inferred, she knew two things. One, Shredder and Karai–the two people she takes orders from–dismissed her showing they don't care about her whereabouts; they don't really care about her. And two, she made a mistake escaping from the turtles. She didn't run away from her problems, she ran to them. She ran straight back to Shredder.

Astraea stood up, stunning Fishface a bit from the whole time of silence and stillness. She made up her mind, and her gut was telling her it was the right thing.

"I think I would like to finish up on training for today Xever. There is somewhere I need to be."

* * *

_**Fin**_

Wow that took a while, and I'm finding that I always say that. If I had a penny for every time I apologized for the slow updating, I would have quite a bit of pocket money. Anyways, I have exams coming up for me so updating could be slower, though I don't know how much slower it could get than this! But hopefully you enjoyed this chapter, and sorry if Fishface/Xever seemed a little OOC. I was trying to show his soft side, and more about his friendship and first meeting with Astraea will be in the next chapter!

Sorry to OrangeFizz and blueeyedinnocene3 for saying I'd update soon, and then it came AGES later! There was a delay when I had assignments I forgot to finish, and as I said above, I have exams coming up, so study, study, study is what I have to do for a while!

_Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT 2012_


	8. 10:27

So this chapter is partly going to be about Fishface/Xever and his flashbacks about meeting Astraea for the first time, and I wanted to go deeper with that since he is sort of a main character in this part two, but also because he's Astraea's friend and she's the main character (besides the turtles of course).

Anyway, on with the story!

* * *

The red and white mutant kicks furiously and rapidly at the metal dummy, his fists beginning to feel sore from the firmness of the metal. It was different from the wooden dummy he was used to, but he had taken note that when he hits and kicks a wooden dummy, the object breaks after several blows. It was his robotic legs that caused the dummy to break so easily, and he was quite frustrated from having to replace it every training session, every day.

So, the problem was happily resolved when Astraea purchased a few metal dummies for him. He didn't know why she made such a kind gesture, or where she got the money from to buy them, but he didn't question her generosity. He did consider her a close friend after all, and vice versa.

The mutant lifted his arm up and held the dummy still so it would stop moving, and then he made his way to the bench with his belongings placed on it. However, when his eyes settled upon the bench, all he saw was Astraea and him sitting quite comfortably–well he felt comfortable anyway– and they were talking, though with the blonde teen's mind clearly elsewhere. He sighed; devastated that she left him alone in his dojo, and it was just a few hours ago. She had basically ducked out of her training session with him, which was abnormal in his opinion.

As he sat down on the same spot on the bench, he couldn't help but wonder where Astraea was headed off to. The first thing in his mind was that she had just remembered an errand she had to do for Karai, or the Shredder. He knew they always had her running around busy, but never before had her task interrupted a session with him. Her training with him seemed to be the only thing she looked forward to, besides some times in the day when she went to her job.

He casually glanced at the clock on the wall, and his heart stopped. 10.27 am. Those numbers, seemed to have such little meaning, but conveyed so much to him.

The mutant thought it was odd to look at the clock at a random time, out of all the times since two years, and see those particular numbers only now. 10.27 am might not mean much to other people, but this was the exact time he had first met the person who changed his life. He thought it sounded too drastic or exaggerated, but he felt comfortable thinking that those words explained it right. He closed his eyes and smiled, reminiscing the scene like it was yesterday.

* * *

**Two years ago.**

"Ha! That is the third time in a row I have beaten you Bradford!" Fishface declares and smirks as he walks towards the wall with the target before tugging out the knife. He was enjoying beating Dogpound in a round of knife throwing at the target, but even he couldn't deny that he could best the other mutant any day. Knives were his weapon before he was turned into a mutant, but his ability to throw knives accurately was not lost even if he was a mutant fish.

Dogpound growled and his grip around the knife in the palm of his hand tightened. Fishface's smirk curved more around the edges, and he wouldn't be surprised if Bradford threw the knife at him out of anger. This would only trigger his teasing even more whether the knife hit the center of the target or not because he was the target and not the human silhouette shaped outline drawn on the wall in red.

But both Dogpound and Fishface knew that he would simply dodge the weapon when thrown, so Dogpound saw no point attempting to injure the red and white mutant. He loosened his grip on the weapon and placed it back on the table of knives adjacent to him, causing Fishface to chuckle as he walked back towards the large mutant dog.

"You won't laugh for long Fish head", Bradford muttered under his breath.

Fishface lifted his eyebrow, wondering what inaudible words Dogpound spoke, but was interrupted by something tapping his shoulder. He turned around and came face to face with a Footbot. He was taken aback by the presence of the robot, and figured that there was a task waiting for him from the Shredder.

Xever let out a groan. He was not in the mood to do something for his master at the moment, especially since he was the one asked, not Bradford, or the both of them. Every time there was a task to be completed, it seemed like it always included both of them. Never one.

The red and white mutant glanced at the Footbot, remaining in the same position as before, and he assumed that he was to follow the robot. The Footbot spun on its heel and stiffly walked in the direction of the exit and Fishface was not reluctant to follow. He dropped his knife on the knives table among the others and grabbed his water bottle near them, taking a long drink as he headed out, but unbeknownst to him Dogpound stared at the mutant fish walking away with a smirk curling on his lips.

* * *

Fishface dragged his feet across the floor as he followed the Footbot. They turned left and right, from one long hallway to the other, and thoughts began to spiral into his mind. The long hallways triggered thoughts to appear in his head, as if he was peering into the deepness of his mind at every passage.

The first thought that came in was: what does the Shredder have waiting for him? He usually received news beforehand, and when he went to see the Shredder, he always had to go with Bradford. It was like they came in pairs, but that thought instantly sickened him. Without a doubt he would prefer to do things solo, but that option was out of the question ever since he met his 'partner'.

As they continued down the hallway that didn't seem to have an ending, his attention averted to the Footbot. They had walked in silence the whole time, and he felt a pang of annoyance at the droid. He felt like he was being treated as a prisoner going to see his captor. And the droid was not helping. It acted like a henchman to a captor, not speaking or making eye contact as he lead the prisoner to a destination. It was as if the Footbot was more superior than he was, but in truth was only a disposable soldier that could be replaced easily.

Xever shook his head at these thoughts, banishing them from ever appearing in his head again. He must have been going crazy. First he actually thought of Bradford as his partner without trying to, and now he was jealous of a Footbot. He didn't understand what was happening to his thoughts.

When the mutant and the Footbot approached the end of the hallway, a dull grey door stood before them. The Footbot reached for the door handle and pulled the door open.

A cold gust of New York air slammed into Xever, and he blinked rapidly from the wind; at realizing how windy the day was outside. He had been indoors most of the time, training, so he didn't take note of what the weather was going to be like.

The door stood open for him and the droid, and he stepped outside of the building when the Footbot was unmoving, indicating to him that the droid wanted him to go first. The first thing his eyes settled on was a white van, back doors open with kraang droids inside. A final thought slipped into his mind as he stared at the vehicle. _That Footbot took me through a long passage of hallways, so that we could go outside to a van?, _he thought. Whatever was going on didn't add up.

But the next thing that came was unexpected. It felt as if something hard hit his head, sending him collapsing to the floor. His hands immediately moved to his head, and though there was no pain before he was lying on the ground, there was just a high ringing in his ears. And object rolled out of his grasp, and he came to realize that it was his water bottle. It rolled on the ground with no direction of where it was headed to, and it paralleled Xever's situation.

He had no idea where he was heading to because there was no other explanation except that he was drugged–by the kraang most likely, and they were going to take him somewhere in that van. But where would they take him, and let alone, why did it have to be him?

Fishface lay on the floor on his left cheek, still clutching his head, but with a softer grip than before. His hands were basically limp, resting on his head, and soon he couldn't feel his body. Sooner or later his head would be numb too, and he blinks slower, and slower, until his eyes were closed and no longer blinking.

* * *

His face felt cold and damp as he woke up, and he guessed that it was water. He thought of the irony, that he was a fish, but he woke up gasping because water was splashed on him. His head still felt sore as he pushed himself to get up and his body felt foreign to him. The mutant sat up in a sitting position, and blinked many times to clear his blurry vision. As he lifted his head, he could feel and see the presence of a figure, but he couldn't identify who it was.

When his vision cleared, he rapidly stood up straight, despite his aching head, and the odd feeling in his body. He had to ignore it. The odd feeling was soon gone because he had to try and ignore it and all because the person standing before him, was the Shredder.

"Master Shredder", Xever greeted. He bowed his head slowly, and only leaning in a few inches as he couldn't risk falling face-plant on the floor in front of his leader. His head still hurt, and he didn't want to make a fool of himself if he collapsed.

"Xever", Shredder said, his voice booming into the atmosphere, and caused Xever to hear the high pitched ringing sound in his ears once again. The master and henchman stood in silence after Shredder's greeting, though it sounded too dark to be a kind response to Xever's greeting.

And the silence continued, making Xever want to squirm from the uncomfortableness. Nevertheless, he remained in his position, not moving a muscle with his head still bowed. He wouldn't dare to look up, as it was a sign of disrespect, though he honestly thought it would have been harmless to do so.

His eyes were glued to the floor, and soon he was studying the texture and detail of it. It may have sounded odd, but he had no other options. The floor was made of smooth concrete, and sort of had an old appearance, and he figured that this must be some other abandoned place Shredder took over to use as another base.

But as he was studying the floor, he felt very sure that Shredder was studying him. Was it his loyalty? The way he looked? Because he thought that looking like a mutant fish for almost three years would already feel normal, and he didn't understand why the Shredder would judge his loyalty by just looking at him. He thought he had done nothing wrong, but maybe there was a mistake he made and he didn't notice it?

_Okay, stop. I have done nothing wrong. But what is Master Shredder waiting for?_

And just when he couldn't almost restrain himself from speaking, the Shredder spoke. "You were drugged Xever." His voice was loud and deep, echoing repeatedly in Xever's head, like it was some sort of throbbing pain. It was an odd statement, but Xever wouldn't interrupt as he was overcome by a sudden curiosity as to why he was here–where ever this place is.

"Stockman engineered a tranquilizer for a man and fish. A mutant." Shredder spoke with darkness dripping in his voice. Fishface winced at the tone. _So he still thinks of me as a monster still, _the mutant thought disappointingly.

"It was in your bottle", Shredder said after a few moments passed. Fishface's eyebrow rose at the statement, and he knew why he collapsed before he was put in the back of the van. _Bradford. He put the drug in my bottle. That's why he didn't throw the knife like he would have, _the mutant thought. He felt anger course through his body at his 'partner'. _He will be my former partner next time I see him. _

He was ready to punch something to let off some steam, or at least imagine that what he punched was Dogpound's face, but Shredder stopped him from doing anything he would regret.

"Follow me, Xever", the deep voice of his master boomed again. And as Shredder turned around, Xever could feel the breeze of the wind from his cape. But the movement from his leader made him look up and follow Shredder. He may have been relieved that he didn't have to bow any longer, but he had a queasy stomach thinking about what the Shredder had waiting for him.

Xever hesitantly walked after Shredder, and he could finally look around at the place he was in. Besides staring at the floor detail, he could see that the place he was in was some sort of warehouse. Old and abandoned, of course. He guessed that Shredder was fond of old and abandoned places, as he could turn it into new bases for himself, or the kraang.

When they reached a large metal door, Shredder came to a halt, with Fishface almost bumping into his back. He lowered his hand and grasped the door handle, before pulling it open. The door let out a deep groan as it opened slowly, and unlike the Footbot, Shredder obviously went through the door before his henchman. The red and white mutant walked behind Shredder into the next room and he glanced at the round clock on the wall opposite of him as it was the first thing he saw. 10.27 am.

But when he tore his glance at the clock, the second thing his eyes settled on took him by surprise. He didn't know what to expect when he entered the room–a dull, gray concrete walled room–and here in the center of it stood a girl. Her hair was long, blonde and straight. It seemed to shimmer brighter than the dim light of the room, and it cascaded down her shoulders.

She stood with her back to him, with Shredder standing adjacent to her, towering over her short figure. When she slowly turned around to face him, he was surprised once again by her soft face, which wore a timid look, but was contradicted by her large, curious green eyes. What he was surprised by was that she did not give him a look of fear when her eyes met with his, and they lingered longer than a normal person would if they saw him. She didn't appear bothered by his appearance, but it was probably the reason why her eyes were full of curiosity towards him.

Shredder places a hand on her shoulder, and the gesture was not loving or protective. It conveyed more of a possessive gesture, showing that she was another person added to the list of people that worked for him. "This is Astraea", Shredder said. Her name pondered in Xever's mind. It was unique, and so smooth that it would roll of the tongue easily.

"She is under your care now Xever."

* * *

Astraea waited until late at night before beginning to pack her things. 10.27 pm. It was the best time to start since no one would be checking up on her at this time, and should be asleep. But her face scrunched up at the thought that someone would come in right now, because she had no idea what time anyone in the Foot Clan goes to bed ever since the early morning she returned. Karai was up and walking around the base and even Xever was awake, which stunned her the most.

In spite of that, she was willing to give it a try, and she needed to escape as soon as possible. Xever was proficient at detecting the kind of mood she was in, and from the attitude she displayed to him, he was definitely concerned.

She could almost feel him reaching out to her, wanting to know why she was not acting like herself, but that and, the fact that he had checked up on her a few minutes ago, just when she decided she was about to pack her things. Fortunately, all he saw was that she was out of bed, with her hand on the light switch of her lamp.

But she was confused at why she didn't fear a kraang droid barging into her room at any time. She was living in a building full of kraang droids, and they were working downstairs, levels below her. Her room was located in a kraang building, but even robots respected her privacy; not like the red banded turtle, Raphael, who entered her room without knocking. He was not supposed to be in the building in the first place, and for all he knows, she could have been in the middle of changing her shirt.

The memory annoyed Astraea, but she reminded herself that she and the turtle would have to cooperate, be allies, as she would help them search for Jaylene.

She shook her head and cleared her thoughts of the turtles for now, because her main goal was to escape. Again.

_So, toothbrush, hairbrush, my clothes, sweater, flashlight, cellphone, a few weapons–oh, do not forget your whip!, _Astraea listed in her mind as she pointed at the objects, and placed them compact in her sports bag.

She turned around and looked into her now-empty wardrobe, and her eyes drifted over to a particular white fabric outfit. _My uniform. My __**Foot **__uniform, _the blonde teen thought, and she wondered if she should bring it with her. She grabbed the uniform and squeezed it tightly in her hands. _I should bring it just in case. _

Astraea stuffed the uniform into her bag before zipping it, and patting the surface like it was a pet animal. She moves her orbs to settle on the mirror on the inside of the wardrobe door. It wasn't long before she couldn't resist turning and looking at her reflection.

She thought she should wear some casual clothes that were also neat, so her appearance to the turtles would accept her as a regular person, and not the enemy anymore. And she depended on her navy blue cashmere sweater, white long sleeved blouse, and black jeans and brown leather boots to do the job.

If she dressed in her Foot uniform, they would probably attack her instead of welcoming her back. If they would welcome her back.

Happy with her choice of clothing, she grabbed her sports bag, slung it on her shoulder, and got ready to climb down the building with the grappling hook and rope she had already prepared. Thankfully, the kraang were too busy with their work to notice a long line of rope hanging from out her window and the side of the building. _Here goes nothing._

She sits on the window sill, holding tightly to the window frame as one of her legs hangs out the building, and glances down below. The distance to the bottom was quite far, but she had faith in herself that climbing down would be a piece of cake. Hopefully.

As she wriggles in her seated position to find a way of slipping out the window smoothly and slowly, the creaking of the door stops her. Her eyes dart to the opposite end of the room, and see Xever standing at the doorway, wearing a quizzical expression mixed with surprise and worry.

Minutes pass as their eyes remain locked, none wanting to break the contact. But as the tension increases between them, Xever breaks it by saying, "Somewhere you need to be?"

He asks her a question from the statement she made that morning, saying she needed to be somewhere. He didn't understand what that meant at first, but now, he pieced the puzzle. She wanted to run away.

Astraea nervously nods in response. She couldn't reply in words. She felt too ashamed to. "I-I should return, soon", the teen pushed out. She had no clue of what else to say as seeing Xever there made her feel selfish. She was his only good friend, and leaving him would hurt her as much as if they were to swap places. She would be crushed if he left her alone with just Karai, and Shredder, but here she was, doing just that to him.

But Xever understands. He knows she hates working for Karai and Shredder, even though he doesn't know the rejection she received from them. The conclusion is that Xever wouldn't stop her from running away, as he would have done the same.

"Goodbye, Xever", Astraea says to the red and white mutant, before she slides out the window and climbs down the side of the building.

* * *

The engines roar powerfully as she drives down the train tracks, knowing she was getting closer to the turtles' home. She didn't know where it was since she was unconscious from the first time she was taken there, so she depended on the motorbike she stole from the turtles. It strangely had a homing device, which made things easier for her, but she found it odd to install a homing device in case enemies–like she was before, would have found the Lair if they got their hands on the bike.

_It is lucky for them that I did not share to the Shredder about stealing this bike when I was about to, _Astraea suddenly thought, and also decided that she would have a talk with Donatello about installing such a device.

She heard small, sharp beeps from the bike and glanced at the speedometer. The speed of the vehicle was gradually decreasing. _Probably close to the Lair then, _she guessed.

And her prediction was correct. When the motorbike came to a halt, she looked to the side and saw the turnstiles and large opening. The figure standing there though was not what–or who–she expected to be waiting. The blue banded turtle stood in front of the turnstiles, at the top of the steps wearing an unreadable expression. He was staring directly at her.

Astraea didn't know what to think as she got out of the bike, especially with his presence there. It was like he was guarding the entrance, and she hoped that he was not guarding it from her.

She walks up the steps, her head down, eyes averting from his. It was only until she bumped into his plastron that she looked up at him. And she plastered on an embarrassed expression.

The teen stepped back to avoid him spotting the heat rising in her face, and she lowered her head like she had before, but her green orbs paused at the bandage wrapped around his torso. She wondered why it was there, but gasped a little when she was aware that it was her fault the bandage was there. She had cut him, when she tried to escape, and only now did she feel more horrible about it.

Astraea moves forward to stand a foot away from the blue banded turtle. She extends her hand and touches the spot she cut Leo. He twitches from her touch, and either from pain or surprise, she didn't know. She pressed lightly on the spot, as if her touch would make it heal quicker, but of course it wouldn't. And after a while, the blonde teen gathered the courage to say, "I have chosen to take you up on your offer."

She subtly hints the plead in her eyes for his forgiveness as she gazes at him after her statement, and the pain that Leo was wearing a blank face at everything she did had ceased at last, when he gave her a small smile and wraps her in his arms. She gladly accepts his embrace.

* * *

_**Fin**_

Oh yeah, done with that! And I quite like the ending because it's so adorable! Please review and thanks for reading! Please ignore my mistakes because I was sort of rushing to finish this.

And I also want to credit Armageddongal for the 'disposable soldier' phrase. Hope you didn't mind that I used it!

_Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT 2012_


	9. Motives

Astraea walks behind Leo timidly when he motioned for her to follow. Her stomach developed a twisted knot inside it as they passed the turnstiles, and past the entrance, and the anxiety grew at every step she took.

_Think happy thoughts, _the teen repeated to herself mentally.

Surprisingly, the first happy thought appearing in her mind was a moment occurring only a few minutes ago. Her hug with Leo…besides being the first happy thought that came into her mind, it was also the only happy moment she recalled. And honestly, she didn't want to release her grip from the blue banded turtle when he drew back his arms from around her. She felt safer, and not guilty for what she had done to him.

Of course, she was an assassin, so she'd hurt others in the past worse than what she did to Leo, but injuring him was the first time she felt guilty for her actions. It wasn't a stab in the side which would take a while to heal, or a fracture to the leg, and yet, she wanted to forget that she had ever hurt him. He was the one after all, who would accept her, and genuinely try to help her because of her back story.

As she turns her head from left to right, taking a glance at the place for the second time, the unsheathing and twirling of metal catches her attention. When she looks in the direction of the dojo, she sees three shocked and battle-ready faces. Mikey's, Raph's, and Donnie's.

Their weapons were in their hands, and they looked more than ready to express their anger on her. But luckily for her, she had her protector who stood in front of her at the sight of the other three turtles. And he stood firm. "Guys, don't worry. She came back to help us", Leo said. His hands were up in a 'calm down' gesture, and it seemed to work. The three brothers lowered their weapons some.

She heard a sigh of relief coming from the turtle standing right in front of her, and a smile quirked up from the corner her lips. _Even he is nervous about this, _the blonde teen thought.

"But how do you know she's really here to help us? Maybe she's spying for Shredder", Raph pointed out. Astraea flinched from her ex-master's name, and the statement. She pondered over it, and thought, maybe she would have done that since it is cunning, but she wouldn't have the heart to lie to them for Shredder, and try to get information out of them at the same time. It didn't feel right.

She may be slightly a dark person, but she couldn't lie if it was to help the Shredder.

Leo looked over his shoulder at her, plead, and wondering in his eyes, hoping she sees those emotions and isn't there to double-cross them. Her eyebrows scrunched up in pity, but there was no reason why. She was definitely not here to double-cross them though.

"Raphael. I assure you I am not here to spy on you like a double-agent, or a mole", Astraea said. The words came out of her mouth confidently, and slowly. The turtles needed to hear and take in every word she said. They needed to hear that she is speaking the truth.

"And I have returned the motorbike. It is in the front", She said. The return of their belongings would hopefully display that she is not here to spy on them, but the news only seemed to put a ghost of a smile on the purple banded turtle's face, not the others.

Raph kept his angry face, and Mikey kept his suspicious expression on. The blonde teen exhaled in frustration. _This scenario came out distinctly different than I expected, _she thought. Leo turned his body to face her fully, as she rubbed her temples, trying to find a way to convince them she would not–and will never–bring any harm.

Fortunately, the purple banded turtle was deciding to be a little more forgiving, and gave her a solution that would help her explain herself. Though he didn't realize that his question would be beneficial for her.

"Then why are you here Astraea?" Donnie asked. Unlike his brothers, he was willing to hear her out, in how she would explain her presence. He ignored the glare from his shorter elder brother standing adjacent to him, and focused his attention on Astraea.

The blonde teen raised her eyebrows, surprised at the purple banded turtle's inquiry, and the opportunity given to her. _Is he genuinely interested, or is he just playing nice for the moment?, _she wondered. Blinking rapidly, she shook her head and pushed the thought aside to avoid losing this chance.

She glanced up at the blue banded turtle–his eyes still studying her–and the signal he received from her 'look' was that he should lead the group to sit down on the couches before she would begin her explanation.

He felt a wave of Déjà vu at realizing the similar situation that hit his head. More than two years ago, when they first brought Jaylene to the Lair, they were also seated on the couch for a semi-interrogation–though they didn't treat her as a captive like they treated Astraea. She was handcuffed on one wrist however, but no hard feelings.

After coming back into reality, away from the appearing thoughts in his mind, Leo moved towards the couches. He spotted his brothers flinching a little from his sudden movement–breaking the stillness–and could feel Astraea trailing closely behind him.

The pair sit on the couch, as the three brothers stare in confusion. But after a few seconds pass, Donnie walks past his two brothers and seats himself on the second couch adjacent to the one Astraea and Leo sits on. The second to youngest turtle wanted to keep his distance from the blonde teen whom he didn't trust very much, though he trusted her a little more than his two other brothers.

Raph's expression shifts from confusion to disbelief at the sight of the purple banded turtle seating himself on the couch, and shortly afterwards, the youngest turtle follows his elder brother's example.

The red banded turtle clenches his fists and grits his teeth. _We're not getting any closer to finding Jaylene if we trust the enemy too much too many times, _he thought.

Moments pass, and no one speaks, waiting for Raph to make his move. Should he choose to leave or to stay was his decision, and Astraea would begin whatever his choice would be. She preferred for him to leave, because she personally thought his presence made her uncomfortable as he hates her the most out of everyone in the Lair.

And despite Astraea's opinion, and Raph's thoughts, the red banded turtle slowly began to trudge to the couch, but he sits on the third couch away from Astraea &amp; Leo, and Mikey &amp; Donnie.

He slumps when he sits, in which the blonde teen closes her eyes from disappointment at his choice. _He will not be my focus anymore. Ignore him Astraea, and the glares he may give to you, _she thought and breathed in and out a few times.

A small nudge at her rib startled her, but without taking a glance, she knew it was Leo indicating for her to hurry before a particular someone makes a tantrum from impatience.

"Well then", she said as she wiped her sweaty palms on her thighs and knees. She let out a little cough and gave a nervous smile to the turtles. "To answer your question Donatello, I am here to help you."

It was a simple sentence to begin with. And along with that, it was the truth. The 'why' to her statement would come soon.

A cough was heard from her left, but she knew it was Raphael. He would be the only one to do such a thing that was a straightforward action to show he didn't believe her. Astraea quietly grumbled from annoyance, and felt a hand on her right shoulder. It calmed her down almost instantly.

She brought her left arm up and placed her hand on top of Leo's hand still lingering on her shoulder.

"I believe your side of the story of Shredder and Splinter–though it is hard to take in that Karai is Splinter's real daughter as she does not seem to have one bit of kindness in her", she said. Three out of four turtles smiled at her comment, while from the corner of her eye, she spots the red banded turtle rolling his eyes. She too rolled her eyes at his stubbornness, and continued.

"Though I may have come across as…ignorant at first, and my main goal was to escape from ones I should not have escaped from, it was because there is an emptiness in me." The teen paused. "And I returned to Shredder, because–"

"You thought he was the only one that could help you. Because he was the one that helped you", Donnie finished her sentence. He remembered what his sensei had said.

"_I would think she is running back to all she knows. The Shredder seemed to have helped her start over, and she does not want to throw it away…"_

Splinter's voice echoed in his mind of the wise words he had spoken a while ago. And he finally understood it better. The similar mindset Splinter predicted of Astraea, and then hearing her say it herself was all he really needed to believe her.

_She was really running back to Shredder because he helped her fill the emptiness…temporarily. And she thought that running away from him would bring back the emptiness. But why is she back?, _the purple banded turtle thought. He believed her reason for why she tried–and was successful–to escape from them, but why would she come back?

The main thing was, that he trusted her even more now. However, there was his younger brother, and older, hard-headed brother left for Astraea to convince.

"Yes Donatello, I trusted the Shredder", and she stressed on the past tense of the word 'trusted'. "But when I returned, I could not believe how Shredder and Karai treated me. They could not care less that I had disappeared. Acted as if I was the one being selfish for leaving them hanging."

The sixteen year old blew a strand of her hair tumbling down in front of her face from the corner of her mouth. She lifted her head up, and sees Donnie, Mikey and Leo, their expressions showing concern for her. All she did was give them a weak smile, and spoke again.

"Seeing at how they could not fill the emptiness–that I still carry, though have not noticed–I realize that if I cannot fill the emptiness in me, I could fill the emptiness in others", she extended her hands some, and motioned to the turtles around her.

The blonde teen thought of this while she was driving the motorbike from Shredder's base to the turtles' Lair. As she drove, she reminisced of seeing the fondness on the red banded turtle's face at describing Jaylene a week before. She was intrigued by how much Raph seemed to care for Jaylene, and that they had something special.

But the emptiness settled when Jaylene was taken away from him. From their family. And when the emptiness came, the dread longing was attached to it.

Carrying that feeling for so long, Astraea was used to it. Didn't even know it was there at first. But this was something quite new for the turtles. The first years of feeling emptiness brings terrible misery, so Astraea was determined to end it, and help them find their Jaylene. Maybe she would have a smaller feeling of emptiness if she filled other people's.

"Plus, I might enjoy going against the people I thought had cared about me. Stealing a few information from them would make me feel a little better", Astraea added. The corner of her lips curled into a mischievous smile at the statement. She glanced to her right, and found Mikey beaming, Donnie giving a tooth-gapped-also-mischievous smile, and Leo grinning at her while shaking his head.

_Now that's the Karai-side of her showing again, _the blue banded turtle thought. He looked at Raph's direction, and was surprised by the small smirk clinging to his brother's lips, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Astraea was probably a strategist though, knowing that if she spoke in the language of his red banded brother, there was no way he could disagree. And that was the second reason Leo was grinning.

* * *

The turtles and Astraea exchange a few questions as minutes pass, and the minutes almost add up to an hour before Leo notices that it's nearly midnight. One by one, he notices his brothers slowly giving in to their sleepiness as they begin to yawn and their eyes get droopy. The number of blinks and the speed of their blinking gradually decreases, and then a snore was heard from the youngest turtle.

It startled everyone in their mid-conversation. Leo stands up from his seat and pats his little brother on his shell to wake him and make sure he will sleep soundly in his bed instead of the couch. "Okay, let's go guys. Move your shells", the blue banded turtle says while moving his hands in a 'move along' gesture.

As they sluggishly pick themselves up and head towards the bedrooms, they each say a polite, "Goodnight Astraea", before they disappear into their bedrooms. When it comes down to the three left in the room, Raph stares at the two with a straight face, and finally lightens it up a little bit. His expression towards Astraea is softer, and he mumbles a, "Goodnight" before he too leaves for bed.

When the sound of his footsteps stop, Astraea and Leo glance at each other as they are the only ones in the living room. The two stand in awkward silence, not knowing what to say to one another.

_Do I tell her to go to bed? And where is 'bed'?_

_What should I ask him? I'll eventually have to go to sleep too, but where?_

But after a few minutes of dead silence, both decide to speak.

"If it is alright–"

"You know you could–"

Before they both stop mid-sentence and laugh at speaking in unison, after minutes pass containing no words. Leo lifts his hand and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly as Astraea shifts her weight uncomfortably, and they both stare at the floor.

He raised his head to meet her eyes once the sight of the floor became a little too boring for interest, and reads Astraea's expression. She carries one that motions for him to speak first.

Seeing the look on her face, he coughs twiddles his thumbs anxiously, before speaking. "Would you–if you would like to, sleep in my room for tonight?" he offers and wished he phrased it better when Astraea's response was to widen her eyes.

The blue banded turtle stuttered, then said, "I-I mean, you could sleep in my bed, and I'll sleep here in the living room. On the couch." He patted the seat cushion of the couch at the end of his sentence, and mentally face-palmed at his action. He didn't know what else to say or do.

The blonde teen smiles, no longer wearing the wide eyes, and looks at him with an expression of amazement. She awkwardly laughs once before opening her mouth to speak. "Well Leonardo, I was going to ask you if it would be alright if I slept on the couch", and she began to nervously chuckle as Leo joins in.

"Ahem, but yes, thank you for the offer, and I would like that." Leo smiles at her reply and walks in the direction of the bedrooms. Astraea watches him and follows shortly after she had slung the bang strap on her shoulder, and quickly walks behind him. _I wonder what his room is like…_

Leo reaches his bedroom door, and abruptly stops in his tracks. Astraea follows suit and halts a step away from him. The blue banded turtle stares at the door to his room, and looks to Astraea standing on his right with a nervous smile. "Heh, this is my room. Well, the door to it anyway."

The blonde teen smirks at his words, finding it adorable how he's fumbling with what to say, and just speaking with whatever comes to mind. Her smirk grew wider at that thought.

The seventeen year old exhales, and pushes the door open. He reaches to his left and flicks the lights on, before pushing the door open wider for Astraea to enter first.

She takes a couple of steps in and lifts her head up, looking around at the walls in his room covered with posters, and her eyes drift from them to the shelves full of comic books and a few action figures all placed neatly, with a bed in the left corner of the room.

"This is nice", she said. Leo breathes a sigh of relief at her statement, and the fact that he cleaned his room recently, especially now that he'll have a guest in it for a bit. Or for no one knows how long.

The sixteen year old sits herself on his bed, and he smiles before saying goodnight. The last thing he sees Astraea do is zipping open her sports bag of belongings as he grabs the spare blanket lying near the doorway, and then closing the door shut.

He heads back to the living room and plops himself on the couch opposite to the T.V his head clear of thoughts so that he could sleep comfortably. But as he lies down and drapes the blanket over him, he switches sides to sleep on his right, hoping it would be a more pleasant sleeping position. When he wriggles in his sleeping posture to settle in, he suddenly sees a faded projection of himself and Master Splinter, standing outside Donnie's lab about a week ago. He blinks rapidly at the sight and rubs his eyes, but the projections don't vanish. Peering closer, he was aware that this was the scene of the night Splinter uncovered Astraea's emptiness.

* * *

"_You heard everything in the conversation, yes?" Splinter says to his son, and Leo only nods in reply. There was nothing he could say in words, though there were a few thoughts slipping into his mind at his sensei's question_. _He did hear everything in the conversation as if they were directly speaking to him. _

_But who could blame him? His sensei wasn't deliberately trying to make the conversation audible to him, but Astraea raised her voice often in that conversation, and, he was sitting on the couch right outside the lab with the door open. _

"_Astraea has been exposed of her last layer, and she would be planning to leave tonight Leonardo, as she does not feel comfortable anymore, now that two people know her deepest feelings of emptiness and why she is feeling it", Splinter tells Leo. Leo blinks in confusion at Splinter's prediction, but feels that it does sound possible, and he knows that the two people who knows this information so far, is him and Splinter. _

_Leo gives him a concerned expression and asks, "What are we going to do about it?"_

_Splinter runs the pads of his thumb and forefinger down his beard, and is deep in thought. Finally he makes his decision, and says to Leo, "Keep an eye on her. You do not have to guard the door of the lab, but you should stay alert. If it is possible, you may remain in the kitchen while you wait, so that you could rest your head on the table, but also keep alert. She will not see you from the kitchen."_

_Leo gives his sensei a quizzical expression, but accepts the suggestion subsequently to asking his sensei, "Sensei, I am glad I was chosen to do this, but why me? Raph would be more than willing to take her down or do whatever means necessary to keep her from escaping", though Leo cringed at imagining his brother hurting Astraea. _

_He glances up at Splinter with eyes full of wondering, and Splinter says to him, "You have answered your own question Leonardo. That is why I asked you. I know you wouldn't hurt her, and you understand her situation, unlike Raphael who does not know her secret emptiness." The rat figured that giving the job to his eldest son would also mean he has a stronger probability of changing Astraea's mind if she allowed him, and no battle between his sons and Astraea would come. Though he couldn't promise the last point. _

_Leo nods his head much like he did before, but also realizes that he's not only doing this because he was told to, but because he genuinely cared for Astraea's fate. And he didn't want it to lead to her standing next to Shredder in this battle between Shredder and their family. _

_Splinter nods a goodnight and turns around before walking away to his room. Leo remains silently standing in front of the lab, and is coming up with suggestions on how he should wait for Astraea. He wondered if it was better to wait for Astraea in the kitchen, or somewhere else. Scenarios played in his head that he would miss Astraea escaping because he fell asleep on the kitchen table, and was too deep in his sleep to wake up. _

_The turtle shook his head at the worst-case scenario, and finally came to a decision. He would hide in plain sight. But instead of also getting some while keeping his senses on, he would stay up the whole night, waiting for Astraea's move, and no matter how sleepy he may feel. He wanted to be focused on his goal of helping Astraea out while he knows Shredder might not be able to. But he also carried a small bit of doubt at Splinter's prediction. _

_Sure the rat is wise, but he doesn't feel so certain that she would try to escape that particular night. _

_He paced left to right, waiting and waiting. 'Maybe she's never gonna try', he thought, and sort of hoped. More than an hour flew by, and he was getting slightly impatient. Just when he decides he will change tactics and wait in the kitchen like Splinter suggested, Astraea emerges from Donnie's lab. Leo's eyes grow wide as he stands corrected._

* * *

Leo yawns when the projections fade completely as the memory is over, but before he shuts his eyes and falls asleep, he wonders why he didn't suggest for Astraea to sleep in the spare room. He thinks long and hard of what settled in his mind, and another thought entering, answers his question.

His younger, red banded brother wouldn't agree to that. It was basically Jaylene's room, a home away from home. And Raph didn't want anyone to be there except Jaylene, or without Jaylene's permission since it sort of became her room, from the times she slept there. She probably even left some clothes in there.

When his head is clear of interrupting thoughts, he tries to get himself to sleep, but footsteps and a movement near the couch next to him awakens him.

He sits up, turns, and sees Astraea sitting on the couch with his blanket from his room in her hands. She smiles at him as he arches a brow, and she says, "I think I may be more comfortable here." And with that, she lies down and wraps his blanket around her. Leo watches her until he hears soft snores, and smiles softly before he too succumbs to sleep.

* * *

His eyes open slowly, and he yawns in the process. _Not bad sleep for one night on the couch, _he thought. Leo sits up and scratches his shell while trying to keep himself awake. _What time is it?, _the blue banded turtle wondered. _Maybe Astraea knows. _

He glances at the couch next to him, and does a double-take. It's empty. His eyes are filled with shock at seeing the empty couch along with the blanket–that she slept with– gone.

He panics and jumps up, looking left and right for any sign of Astraea. But when he takes a step forward, a small crunching under his feet occurs. He lifts his foot up, eyebrow raised, and sees a small white piece of paper.

The turtle bends down and picks it the paper up, seeing neat, cursive writing on the paper.

_Gone out. Will be back shortly. _

_~ Astraea  
P.S your blanket is back in your room_

Leo smiles in relief, and his heart slows down its beating pace. He happily walks to the kitchen to throw the note away, but drops it from surprise when Mikey bursts in through the entrance of the kitchen.

The blue banded turtle jumps from where he stood, holding his head to his chest to calm himself down as Mikey is says, "Leo! You have to hear what Raph's gotta say!"

And on cue, Raph enters the kitchen, his hand behind his back.

"What is it Raph?" Leo asks, attention fully on his brother. From all the calmness of last night, he figured that things would be less jumpy in the Lair. Astraea seemed to have made some sort of amend with the red banded turtle, so he thought that there would be less trouble around here. Guess he was wrong.

Raph stares at his brother with uncertainty and says, "It's about Astraea."

At hearing her name, Leo groans and mutters angrily. "What is with you?! You're always complaining about here, and I thought everything would be fine starting from last night!"

But his sentence doesn't change the expression on his brother's face. Raph's face is kept serious and straight. "It was alright last night. That's the problem. She made it seem like everything would be fine, that I forgot to tell you something important", the shorter turtle said, before he shoves an object at his brother. Leo stares at the object, holding the handle without a care, and not taking anything in. Until he realizes its familiarity. His stomach drops at realizing what it is.

"Is that–?"

"Yeah. Found it on the floor in Donnie's lab last week. Didn't bring it up since you were recovering from what she did to you", Raph cut in. He snatches the object back and gazes at it with longing. He didn't want to bring his brother even more disappointment since Astraea had already hurt him, so he waited for the right time to tell. But when Astraea returned, it made it ten times more difficult for Raph to say something about it.

Leo outstretches his hand and grabs the object from his brother, though he is slightly confused as to why Raph didn't growl when he took it from him. He squeezes the handles tight, wondering what it all means, and attempting to piece the puzzle together. _Astraea, what aren't you telling us?_

* * *

_**Fin**_

Heh over a month of not updating, but I finally pushed some work aside and finished this. The scene between Splinter and Leo is for ilovecartoonsgirl because you were wondering what Splinter said to Leo before Astraea's escape attempt. Enjoy and please review and I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas!

_Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT 2012_


	10. The Shed

"Okay guys, I'm gonna head to bed", the red banded turtle announced, and rubbed his eye soon afterwards. He felt like a child to rub his eye sleepily, but there was nothing he could do about it. It was a natural habit, and luckily, none of his brothers had noticed. They all just sat still in their spots on the couch, orbs glued to the TV.

_Okay then, ignore me, _Raph said mentally. He expected Leo to respond, but he made no movement. It was odd as to why the blue banded turtle didn't respond though, as he would almost always say a simple "goodnight" to everyone.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, the red banded turtle jumped from the couch and trudged to the bedroom area, but he couldn't resist the urge to turn around. He had to have one last glance at his robot-like brothers. But the turtle shook his head, and continued forward, seeing they were the same as before.

Spinning around, his green orbs settled on his bedroom door. However, the door was slightly agape. He tensed where he stood, scenarios filling his mind. A footbot about to slice his neck once he was inside with the door shut. The Shredder pointing his gauntlets at him, ready to de-shell.

Raph shakes his head like he did before. Nothing of that sort would happen, and he knew that. Shredder didn't have their location, and he would have no idea which room was his…if that was the most important thing.

Nevertheless, the red banded turtle pulled out his weapons from his belt, slowly, and dramatically, without seeming like some kind of drama turtle. He calmed himself by breathing in and out, and focused his eyes on the door. Deciding he shouldn't wait any longer, he kicks the door hard, not hard enough to break it down, but enough to push it wide open.

The door flew open, allowing faded bursts of light to enter the dark room. His weapons were pointed at what was present in his room, but he corrected himself–who was present in his room.

Raph's eyes widen at the sight, yet he felt so calm about it. His mind and expression were very contradicting.

The person sitting on his bed gazed at him with soft, caring eyes. She sat there still, and silent as if she had been waiting for him for a while. Spike was seated on her lap, his head rubbing against her stomach, and her brown curls were swaying a little, like they were leaves of a willow tree. She wore her old, green hooded sweater, and it relaxed Raph when his eyes were laid on it. "Jaylene", He said, his voice as soft as the eyes she had settled on him.

The turtle moves and sits next to her on his bed, the mattress sinking a little from his weight. He turns and gazes at his pet turtle, who seemed perfectly happy and comfortable. Jaylene was the only other person, besides himself, which Spike rubbed his head to, and showed affection in his eyes; it filled him with happiness that two of the individuals that he loved most, also loved each other.

"Y'know you haven't changed a bit", the turtle states, and she chuckles in response. Warmth consumed his heart and she smiles at him. "I saw you last night Raph", the brunette says, and chuckles some more. And all the red banded turtle could do was grin. She was right however, to the fact that he had seen her the night before. But he paid attention to her words. She said, she was the one who saw him, and reading between the lines, he understood that she was visiting him. He didn't cause her to make an appearance. She visited him.

He lifts his orbs up and down, scanning his girlfriend's appearance, when he thought about his earlier statement. She didn't change a bit since last night, but he still realized that she did change from two years ago in one of his, almost-realistic dreams. _She's taller, her hair's longer, and her face is paler. Hopefully she's not sick or anything._

When he drops his eyes from her, no one says a word for a long while. The two just sit in comfortable silence, one where they could just not speak for a while without trying to come up with anything to say, and they don't feel awkward about it. But after the time stretches out, Jaylene stands up at one point and places Spike on Raph's lap. She pats the pet's head gently and lovingly, indicating she was going to leave.

The small turtle pressed the top of his head against the palm of her hand as she patted him. He loved the affection. She then raises her hand, and turns; walking to the door with ease, and no rush. Jaylene grabs the handle and twists it, before pulling the door open and letting in an immense amount of bright light to touch every dark corner of the room despite the time of night. The light was almost supernatural. It was unreal, and angelic.

"Will see you again tonight", she says and it rips the red banded turtle's attention from gazing at the light. He lifts his arm in an effort to stop her from leaving just yet, but it was too late. The door was pulled to a close, and darkness enveloped the room once again.

* * *

Raph opens his eyes, and blinks a few times, still dazed from his dream. He had known the whole rime that it was a dream, but he never bothered to point it out to himself. There were signs as to how it was a dream though, because Jaylene was obviously not present nowadays, and the most recent time he had seen her was in this latest dream. The only upside to this, was that he didn't have heartache anymore after she visited him multiple times, recreating the feeling that she was still with him.

His eyes trailed down to him hand, and saw that he was tightly clutching onto something of Jaylene's. Her green sweater. His grip around it tightened, because a piece of her was in the palm of his hand. _I don't remember going to sleep holding this, _the turtle thought. He stared at the sweater, turning it around in his palm as if he were searching for holes or worn out spots to fix up, and tears were sucked in to prevent the sweater from getting covered in them if he let them fall. If he ruined it more than it was already worn out, he swore it would be the end of his days.

He grabs his mask lying on the headboard of his bed, and ties it around his eyes. He looks to Spike's bed, and sees that his pet had woken up before him, and when he turns to the opposite direction, the door was slightly open, just like in his dream. _Somebody probably went to check up on me, and Spike went out with them…_

Raph didn't mind that his pet left his room. Probably because he did that before. And along with that, his brothers were also quite trustworthy when it came to taking care of Spike. Spike had lived with them for more than eight years, and they would be crazy not knowing something simple, like Spike's favourite snack. So he trusted Spike would be fine without Raph watching him.

The red banded turtle sat up on the edge of his bed and began to put his knee pads and gear on. If Spike had been fed already, he had no need to worry about getting him food, so he got ready in a moderate pace. Soon he was up on his feet and deserted his bedroom; pulling the door shut tight behind him.

There was no specific reason as to why he shut the door tightly, but he didn't want any surprises waiting for him in his room. Like Jaylene's presence–even though it was a dream–. He wanted nothing more than for his girlfriend to appear unexpectedly in his bedroom, saying that everything happening in the last two years was the dream.

Raph wandered into the kitchen, but saw his pet was nowhere to be seen. The kitchen was always the first place he went to; obviously for the first important meal of the day. He took Spike here when he first wakes up, so he assumed that Spike would be here. But he wasn't.

"Goood morning Raph!" Mikey exclaimed. He beamed at his brother, smitten, and as usual, for no reason. It brought life into the spacious, and half-gloomy lair, which Raph was happy about, although it was annoying at times.

"Morning Mikey…where's everyone?" He asked. Only now had he realized that Mikey was the one present in the empty kitchen. No one else was around. "They're all in the lab. Splinter let us off the hook from training this morning so Leo and Donnie could help Astraea research", the orange banded turtle said as he peanut-buttered his toast in a thick layer. Raph shuddered at the amount of peanut butter covering the toast. It was as if the toast were drowning in peanut butter.

He shook his head once at thee thoughts. What was he thinking? He needed to find Spike, and not think about Mikey's peanut butter with toast; not the other way around.

"Uh thanks Mikey", he mumbled and exited the kitchen.

When he got to the bottom of the stairs he heard the sound of something smashing. And it came from the lab. His heart was pounding madly ever since the sound rang in the atmosphere, and loudly in his ears. He ran to the lab, and pushed the door open swiftly with one big heave.

He found Donnie picking up glass from what used to be a beaker, and assuring Leo he didn't require any help. Astraea was sitting at the desk, her hands still on the keyboard, staring at Donnie clean. Leo had his hand gripping the backrest of the wheelie chair Astraea was sitting on. "What happened?" Raph came in, asking. The three turned their attention to him. "Spike pushed the beaker off the desk. Luckily there were no substances in there", the purple banded turtle explained and went back to picking up the glass.

"Why would he be in here anyway? Next to the chemicals?" Raph asked back angrily as he went to pick up his pet, who wore an expressionless face.

Astraea lifted her hand up sheepishly, and shyly. "Apologies Raphael, but Spike entered the lab a few hours before you were awake, and while I was doing some research. He came up to me, and rubbed against my leg, like he likes me. So I placed him on the table while I worked."

She turned her attention back to the computer screen, and he heard the clicking sounds of the computer mouse shortly afterwards. Leo shrugged at his brother, and also fixed his eyes on the screen.

Raph glares at the blonde teen, and her reply. He didn't know what to think. Could Spike even leave his room and open the heavy door himself? It was possible that he did eventually learn how to do that, but the turtle was in denial. He was only furious at the fact that Spike liked the person he hated most in the lair.

And in the dream he had recently, Jaylene was present, in his room, holding Spike. It seemed that the red banded turtle didn't want anyone else touching Spike besides Jaylene and himself. If Astraea laid a finger on Spike, Jaylene's presence on Spike was gone. And now it was because Astraea had picked his pet up.

The blonde teen lifted her eyes and tried to read Raph's seemingly blank expression. He did not respond to her explanation, and she wondered if she had said something wrong. To end the lingering conversation, Astraea said, "I guess animals love me."

When she fixed her eyes on the screen once again, she didn't realize that the turtle still had his eyes focused on her, but with a mix of shock, confusion and fury on his face, no longer having the blank expression. But this time, his orbs were staring at what she was wearing.

He couldn't take his eyes off the green hooded sweater Astraea was wearing, and the anger in him began to bubble a bit, and he cringed. He felt sure that it was the same sweater, but he was sleeping with it earlier, so it couldn't possibly be Jaylene's. It was like she was purposefully trying to haunt him of the person he lost. _Plus, she's sitting there like she owns the computer and the desk. It's only been two weeks since she came back, and she acts like she's been here for years. _

"Are you alright Raphael?" Astraea asks, when the turtle was still frozen in his spot; holding Spike protectively in his arms.

"I'm fine", he grumbled.

Raph had steam clearly coming out of his ears, which Astraea didn't notice. He was feeling quite furious at her, for the fact that one, she was wearing the green-hooded sweater similar to Jaylene's, and two, Spike seeming to like the person he hated in the lair the most. Her actions and clothing continued to mock him.

Raph grumbled, and opened his mouth, but Astraea jumped up from her seat and declared, "I will get some food for your sweet pet Raphael. I just realized he probably has not had breakfast yet." She stands up, and lifted her hand, gently patted Spike's head, much like Jaylene did in his dream. And then she dashes out the door.

Once he felt certain that he and his brothers alone, Raph snaps his head to face his two brothers, and words tumble out of his mouth rapidly, angrily. "I can't describe how angry I am you shellheads! Have you forgotten that Astraea had Jaylene's kunai?! Everything we suspected?! How else would she get her hands on it?! Oh, I know! Shredder!" the turtle blurted out, half yelling. His sudden tone of voice stunned his brothers, and he could visibly see them jump back for one second. There were very few times when his brothers flinched at his angry tone as he used it often, so this situation was very rare.

"And why would she have the green sweater, huh?! It's like she took the things that made Jaylene, Jaylene. Her sweater, and her favorite weapon", the red banded turtle stated. The green sweater held importance to him as they first met her wearing the sweater, and her kunai was the weapon she always used in battle and training. In terms of objects, they defined his girlfriend. "She's also gained too much trust from all of you, and you can't hand it to her like she received a gift! Our trust is a reward, which she'd have to earn, not have given to her."

"Are you sure this isn't about something else?" Donnie asks, in between Raph's ramble. Raph growls and yells, "No!"

He then continues and says, "Especially that she leaves the lair when she wants, not telling us where she goes, and thinks she could get away with it. We can't trust her Leo! She still has too many secrets", Raph says, but pauses, and his eyes widen a little. Halfway through his brother's ramble, Leo was able to stand in front of him, the brothers meeting eye to eye.

But standing so close was a slight disadvantage. He couldn't see what his brother's eyes widened at; he stares at him, pondering on the thought of why he stopped. The blue banded turtle then turns around to see what his brother's eyes are fixed on to end his cluelessness.

And standing at the doorway, was Astraea, looking hurt and shocked as ever. A small frown appears on her face. She didn't need to say anything for him to know that she heard more than half the conversation…or more of, the argument. _Oh no. No no no no no. _

As the six pairs of eyes, including Donnie, kept their gaze on Astraea, Leo hoped that the longer they did, the longer it would take for her to turn her back on them. But he was wrong. The second those thoughts slipped into his mind, the blonde teen spins on her heel and walks out of their sight. Seconds later they hear a clatter of a plate outside the lab, and the sound of rapid footsteps follows the clattering plate soon after. The three turtles didn't need to think for a split second to know that was Astraea. Mikey was in the kitchen, and those sounds were too close to them.

Leo glares at his brother and sourly says, "Nice going Raph."

He runs out the door swiftly, trying to catch a glimpse of the blonde hair before he couldn't follow her and where she was dashing off to. His determined blue eyes darted to the Lair entrance, and spotted a blonde streak of hair on the far left side.

_Astraea stop running from us, _Leo thought, and it was also what he wanted to say aloud as he ran after her. The turtle somersaulted over the turnstiles and landed on his feet without stumbling. That was easy to do, but pursuing Astraea was something else. A skilled kunoichi with only two years of training is surreal. She could disappear in the blink of an eye, and there would be no trace of her. She had escaped from them once, and she is doing it again, but this time, Leo is certain he'll find her.

* * *

The turtle stopped to take a breath, and he leaned forward, with his hands resting on his knee pads. He had been searching for the sixteen year old for two hours nonstop, and he wouldn't have grown tired if he paused from his sprinting at least one time before. And that decision lead him to breathing raggedly, and wanting to collapse on the surface of a rooftop very badly.

He grabbed his t-phone from the pocket of his belt, and held it up in front of himself. "Five texts, three calls, and nothing", the turtle said with slight exasperation. Leo had followed her to the main road where he had to be a little stealthier while running across the rooftops-and as she was running on the sidewalk-, but when he reached a corner and glanced down, Astraea had disappeared. And he was mad that he was correct about Astraea being a skilled kunoichi. It made his job in finding her a thousand times harder than it was catching up to her. He wondered why it was so difficult chasing her when he was on the rooftops, and while she was on the streets below. He should have been able to see everything from above, but missing out on one second of her location as she ran, messed it all up.

As the seventeen year old slumped onto the cold surface of the empty rooftop, he felt a sudden vibration and heard a familiar ringtone from his belt. A surge of excitement ran through his veins at the thought of Astraea being on the other end of that phone call. He reached for his phone and pulled it out before placing it to his ear.

"Leonardo", the blue banded turtle stated.

"Leo, its Donnie", the voice from the other end said. And in the instant he heard the name and voice, his heart felt heavy again. He didn't have anything against his younger brother-and only Raph-so he didn't understand why he was more disappointed than he should be. _Just be thankful it's not Raph calling to yell at you, _the turtle thought.

"Oh, hey Donnie", Leo said half-heartedly. "What's up?"

"I know you're not in the mood to talk to any of us because you're looking for Astraea, so instead of telling you to come back home…here's the coordinates", the purple banded turtle said.

Leo heard a distant yell at the other end, and he shook his head knowing it was the second to eldest brother. He guessed Raph was protesting against Donnie's choice to help him. Seconds later, the phone buzzed against his ear, and he lowered it so he could see the screen. A red dot was blinking on a bird's eye view of New York City. It was Astraea's location.

The turtle mentally thanked his brother, and placed the phone against his ear again. "I know you don't approve of me planting a bug on her phone, but in my defence, I never actually checked to see her whereabouts when she goes off without us knowing where", Donnie spoke firmly. The same voice yelling previously in the back said, "What?!" and Leo fought the urge to laugh at Raph's anger against Donnie's kindness.

"Thanks Donnie…" Leo said gratefully, but he trailed off at not knowing what else to say. Luckily, the purple banded turtle didn't realize his loss for words, and just ended their conversation with a, "Good luck."

The blue banded turtle smiled and lowered his phone down much like before, as he sprinted in the direction of the red blinking dot.

* * *

_The docks? Why would she be here?, _Leo asked himself. He crouched down on top of a red cargo container, and stared blankly at the sky as thoughts poured into his mind. He didn't recall Astraea saying she had something to pick up from here, but then again, she didn't share a lot of things with them. He thought, that maybe she was having a rendezvous with someone at this place. And the first person that appeared in his mind, was the Shredder.

_No. no. You're thinking too much like Raph. Astraea wouldn't meet up with Shredder after what she said about him…right?_

He thought long and hard for reasons as to why Astraea would still have connections with Shredder as he jumped down from the cargo and landed on the concrete. But nothing answering the question, came up. Though it hadn't been too long since she had joined them against her former master, he wondered if his younger, short-tempered brother was right. Just a second ago he thought his brother would never be right, but his new thoughts contradicted the previous ones.

However, before he made a final decision, his neck strained and he found it difficult to breath. Something was choking him. And before he was able to lift his hands up in an attempt to free himself, he was yanked forward. He soared just above the ground because it flew from under his feet, and seconds after, his abdomen skimmed in contact with the concrete from landing back on the ground.

Leo didn't have enough strength to get back on his feet, but there was no need to. Everything happened so quickly, but he soon found soft, gentle hands touching his face. And in the moment, he couldn't hear anything, and it was like he had lost his hearing.

The turtle was puzzled about whose hands were holding onto his face, because despite him rolling on the floor in struggle and panic, the hands firmly remained on his cheeks. Until he held still, the soft, yet firm, hands moved down from his cheeks and stopped at his neck.

The blue banded turtle didn't even have time to react, and found himself breathing fresh air once again. It hurt when he gulped it in too quickly, but he didn't care. All that mattered was that he was breathing.

"Ugh, what happened?" the turtle said aloud. He rubbed his sore neck and prayed that there wouldn't be a bruise or in the least, a big bruise after this. Leo blinked his eyes slowly and his vision cleared in no time.

The first thing clearing up in front of him was a long rope. _No wait…that's a whip…_, the turtle corrected himself. And on the other end of the whip was a person. Her hand was gripping tightly onto the handle of the whip, like it was dear to her. And he felt pretty sure that it was.

"Astraea?" Leo said. The blonde girl as stood over him, her figure towering over him. It wasn't usually like that as he was the taller one, but in this case, he was vulnerably sitting on the concrete, still taking it in. He glanced up at her, but couldn't decide whether to smile, frown or keep a straight face. But coming to realize that his mouth was not going to move a muscle, he went with the third option without a choice.

As he stared up at her, and she at him, he suddenly asked himself if the person she was rendezvousing with was around. His orbs turned left and right for any sign, until Astraea spoke. "I am here alone. I am not meeting with anyone, Leonardo."

The blue banded turtle breathed a sigh of relief at the assurance. He could trust her a little more right now when she cleared that up. "But even though I am not meeting with anyone, we should get inside before someone unwanted here, shows up", the teen states. She outstretched her hand, and grasped his, the familiar feeling always making the hairs on his neck stand. She pulled him up to his feet and nodded at him. He wasn't quite sure what that was for, but he followed her as she dragged him-by his hand-in the direction of an old wooden shed. Astraea reached for the door knob, and pushed the door open wide. Leo gasped inaudibly, and Astraea briskly pulled him inside the shed prior to shutting the door tight behind her.

He had stumbled when he was hurriedly dragged into the shed, and then left in the darkness for around twenty seconds. She released her hand from grasping his, and he panicked from the movement. Here he was, in a dark room with the only light source from the natural sunlight seeping through the cracks, and he couldn't see anything. He hush-whispered her name in between the long seconds, and as if on cue, the lights above his head flickered on.

"Apologies Leonardo if I scared you, but I was promptly trying to fix the lights", Astraea informed the startled turtle. She turned around and began to move some boxes and equipment. _Probably hasn't had guests in…ever, _Leo thought as he grinned at her efforts. She flipped her head around in sharp movements as she looked around the shed, deciding where to place things that were laying around.

Once she was glad with her arrangements, she faced him and said, "And also, I am sorry I choked you with my whip…I thought you were-never mind." The blonde teen stopped short on her sentence, and took her gaze away from his face to the floor.

Leo's eyebrow was gradually raised at her sudden halt on words. He was curious as to why she stopped herself from going further, and what she was about to say. Ignoring his burning curiosity, his eyes also drifted from hers to the equipment, and overall room he was in, to distract his mind. A new question sparked in him, and he wanted to inquire on what this place was.

And at the same time he was going to ask that question, Astraea answered it as if she knew what it was already. "I know I have not shared a lot about my whereabouts with you, so I shall do it now", she said, and paused, allowing him to realize this was quite a big moment. "This is my shed. The place I spend most of my times at."

She grabbed both of his hands and slowly pulled him around the shed, like she was spinning him in a dance.

"But what do you do here?" the turtle asked. The fact that she shared this was the place she spent most of her time at, wasn't exactly enough information. However, he recalled of a special place Raph and Jaylene had, and though it looked like nothing, their presence there made it extraordinary. This could be a similar situation, but Astraea tried too hard to protect this place, and it must have some significance to it that was more than a sentimental attachment.

Astraea was reluctant to answer his question when Leo snatched a glance. She had the look of worry, and he questioned why she would, when she had already shared the place with him. There was probably something big about it that she didn't want other people knowing.

"Well you see Leonardo, this is not just an ordinary shed…it is also my laboratory." The tension in the room increased from that statement, but it still didn't mean that much to him. Maybe she was a scientist like Donnie, and had a talent with chemicals, but that seemed too simple of an answer for her to be hiding it from everyone.

"I am in the process of creating a "retro-mutagen" as Donnie named it. And I have actually been working on it for nearly two years."

* * *

_**Fin**_

Well that's finally up after over three months! Sorry it's been a while, and I would've updated a whole lot sooner, but things happen and if I try to explain, it'll just seem like I'm making excuses XD but this is a nice long chapter, and the next one will come very soon as I'm in the process of writing it! Please review as well!

**Thank you to the Guest review on the 24th of Feb for the encouragement to keep writing, and I promise that I won't stop writing this story! And thank you blueeyedinnocene3 for checking up on me!**

_Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT 2012_

_04/04/15_


	11. Reasons Resurface

He kept his eyes shut, and closed off everything around him. He couldn't believe what he had heard. Why would she be doing this in the first place? She didn't have a reason to be experimenting, did she? It was too confusing for Leo to understand. There was too much information missing for him to figure out the big picture.

_Astraea seems to be in the mood of sharing things she kept from us, so hopefully she has an explanation for this, _he thought, but something in the back of his mind told him otherwise.

Astraea drew in a deep breath and then pursed her lips. She was nervous. Ever since she accidentally choked him and to this very moment. She was nervous. "I do not want to feel like I have betrayed you for working on this, Leonardo", she said with a small voice. The blonde teen cleared her throat to be certain that the blue banded turtle was listening.

"Betraying me? I think you're betraying my brother. You do realize that he's working on the retro-mutagen as well? For all I know, you could be stealing some of his formulas or ideas, and using them to improve yours", Leo countered, but a few seconds later, the statement left him spluttering. What had possessed him to be so cruel even for one second? The instant the words tumbled out, he was beating himself up for saying that. However, some other part said she deserved it.

"I apologize if it seems that way, but I have been creating the retro-mutagen for…a friend", Astraea said. Her eyes were glued to the floor as she spoke, or anything rather than looking into his eyes.

The turtle perked up at the statement, and began to think hard about who she was helping. Timothy was out of the question, because he was Donnie's reason for creating retro-mutagen. Master Splinter was also his brother's motivation, but since Timothy's mutation was partially their fault, Donnie felt more responsibility to engineer the retro-mutagen. Astraea didn't know Timothy very well to consider him as her motivation, as he only recalled one time when she asked about the "interesting looking creature." All he said was that he was a friend of theirs who mutated himself. The expression she wore when he told her that conveyed understanding, as if she could relate to it.

_If she understood that situation, then the reason she's doing this is for…_

"Fishface", the blue banded turtle said. It was crystal clear to him after taking Timothy and his sensei out of the equation. The only other person she would have been closest to–and being a mutant–was Shredder's henchman. Leo and his brothers weren't close to her either, so they were definitely out of it as well. Besides, why would she want to turn them back into regular turtles if she probably didn't know they were regular turtles to start with?

The sixteen year old raised her head at hearing the name. She left her eyes blank, so the turtle wouldn't detect any emotions that she didn't want to give away. Nevertheless, he was right. The mutant fish is her motivation.

"Yes, you are correct. Xever is my motivation", she said. And just when Leo thought he could squeeze a sentence in, Astraea pushed forward with one of her own. For the turtles, a plain statement was never enough as an answer. She learned that from seeing how angry Raph was because they didn't know her whereabouts sometimes. She knew they were also quite paranoid and jumped to conclusions often, so it was best to explain herself clean and not leave any suspicions lurking around.

"Xever once told me what his childhood was like. He was a street urchin, and could only steal to survive", the teen began, and Leo could immediately tell that she wasn't too proud of what her friend had chosen to do when he was younger.

"Life was not easy for him, but it gradually got easier when he became a master thief. Of course, all thieves are caught eventually, and he went to prison for it. But the Shredder bailed him out of prison if Xever agreed to work for him, so he did. And now, he's a mutant fish because he worked for Oroku Saki to end you…" the blonde teen said. She inhaled then exhaled painfully, and Leo figured that sharing his sad story was agonizing, even for her. He reached his hands out, and grabbed hers, before squeezing them as a gesture of comfort and reassurance.

He couldn't relate to Xever despite the mutant similarities, and they both didn't own a lot. The main difference between them however, was that Leo had a family to care for him while Xever didn't have the satisfying life. Although there was Astraea who did understand his former situation. She too shared the experience of living on the streets and fending for herself. Shredder helped both of them in their toughest time as well. Yet, the sixteen year old was able to see the light, while Xever was too deep in Shredder's business for him to pull out any time soon.

"Leonardo, Xever told me how much he missed being a human. It is like he is losing his humanity over the years because he turned into a mutant. He is not like Master Splinter, whose mind is very strong, and could cope with the mutagen affects. He does not deserve it happening to him either though. I am hoping that if I could reverse the mutagen affects, then he would trust me more", Astraea explained, and paused. "More, so I could change his mind into not working for Shredder any longer."

Leo's breathing stopped short from shock. The task she was putting herself up to was difficult. Xever had been working for their enemy for a while now, although the main reason was because he was in debt to Shredder for bailing him out of prison.

The two remained silent while the blue banded turtle's thoughts were spinning in his head. He had a good understanding of Astraea's plans now, but was still bewildered by it. Xever must have meant a lot to her.

"Xever…are you more than friends with him?" Leo asked. Astraea had told her stories about her relationship with Xever and he sensed there was something more between them than just a simple friendship. If the blonde teen said they're more than friends, he wouldn't be too surprised.

While Leo held those thoughts, the sixteen year old's eyes widened at his inquiry. Was that what he thought and concluded from everything she had told him? Sure she was close with the mutant fish, but they were only friends. She could tell that Xever held a place in his heart for someone else, although up until now, she's in the dark about Xever's love-life. If the special place in his heart was for a woman, and not a villainous vendetta like his master.

Astraea then shook her head and smiled. "Friends. Like us."

Shortly after, she placed her finger atop of her lip and a pensive expression crossed her face. "We are friends too, are we not?" She asked.

There was no reluctance when Leo responded with a nod. This gesture relaxed the blonde teen, and her shoulders loosened with ease. Although as satisfying as she now felt, she drenched up her motivation again to reveal the small guilty truth attached to the main reason.

"I also owe him because I left the Foot clan. I was the single true friend he had. Everyone else was merely considered a co-worker, or someone he took orders from."

Leo blinked twice at this partial reason, but soon got rid of the shock he was feeling and wearing. Her words cut deep into his mind, and she was right. If he was Astraea, he would have done the same thing. Especially for the person who was her only friend. Not that Xever couldn't fend for himself because he had been like this for a while, though she was probably the best company he had from everyone he knew.

"That makes sense", the blue banded turtle stated with a kind smile hovering over his lips.

The blonde teen grinned in return, happy that at least one person understood her situation.

_Karai was right. Leonardo was the sympathetic one. From when I tried to escape the lair to now, he had tried to understand me; how I felt so that I would not turn in the wrong direction. So I need to do the same for Xever. _

Her wandering thoughts switched to how different Leo was to his brothers, and how they treated her differently because she used to be with the enemy. They didn't even try to understand what she went through and the reasons behind her actions.

_But speaking of which, how shall I solve what is happening? Leonardo's brothers probably think I am going back to Shredder, or calling for the Footbots to ambush them. I need something I could use as evidence. Leonardo would come home alive, but that would not prove to be sufficient. _

"Leonardo?" Astraea's voice spoke out of the blue. The blue banded turtle immediately lifted his eyes to meet hers when he heard his name asked in the form of a question. He gazed at her only for a few seconds, but saw anxiety. Just earlier she wore content, yet it shifted rapidly to the opposite.

"What should I do about your brothers? They do not know about this place for it is just you have gained the knowledge, but I do not want them finding out. I promise that using my own methods, I will help Donatello create the retro-mutagen. While he is working on it back at the Lair, I will work on it in my own lab, here. Your brothers will not trust me enough to complete the task as I only offered my assistance in finding Jaylene, and not creating retro-mutagen."

"So for now, I need another reason for running off that leaves this place excluded", the sixteen year old explained. The look in her eyes were no longer anxious. They were pleading.

The turtle shut his eyes and turned his back on her to think. What she thought of the gesture wasn't exactly important at the moment. In spite of that, Astraea was surprisingly able to clear her head to figure out something because he didn't face her. She guessed that keeping her eyes in contact with his made her nervous and unable arrange her thoughts properly as anything she came up with may merely have been foolish.

Her gaze floated from the shell on the blue banded turtle's back, across the filthy wooden walls, to an object laying upon her brown work desk neatly.

The green orbs are dead-focused on the object, and thoughts race through her mind all tugging her to one side or the other. It was like her mind was going to tear in two because of how conflicted she was feeling.

The object on her table was something she treasured, but there were high chances it would help her.

_Should I risk bringing this back to the turtles? This is something that I cannot afford to lose…_

Astraea couldn't stand her thoughts arguing any longer. She'd return empty-handed and the other turtles – especially Raph – would not be satisfied. On the other hand, she could convince them that she didn't help them to betray them, with the object as evidence.

And that was the end of the debate in her mind. She'll bring it to them.

* * *

The small cuboid object is tight in her grasp as she walks with Leo on the sidewalk adjacent to the old subway tracks. She rolls it around in her right palm hypnotically, keeping her calm and stable. There was nothing though that could stop the loud beating of her heart in her chest, and that too was hypnotic, but slightly painful.

The rhythmic beating was beginning to cloud her head, because the louder it got, the more the feeling of anxiety was chewing at her.

_We're getting closer and closer to the lair…I hope Astraea has planned what she's going to say to the others…and mostly Raph, _the blue banded turtle thought worriedly. Back in the shed, Astraea told him she had it covered, and that small object she showed him would give enough reason for his brothers to trust her. She said even Raph would be convinced, or in the least, slowly come around to it.

Before they knew it, the two had reached the entrance of the lair. Instead of Astraea's heart beating wildly in her chest, the beating abruptly halted. It was a worse feeling than the previous.

The blonde teen stopped rolling the cuboid in her palm, and squeezed it once before mustering up the courage to walk up the steps.

Leo's mouth was barely agape when he watched the sixteen year old in front of him. She took less time that he thought she would to gain the confidence to enter the lair. He figured she was determined to prove her innocence to his brothers.

_This sounds like some court trial…and she's only proving her innocence to Raph. Donnie and Mikey seem to trust her just fine, _the thoughts appeared in Leo's head. He found himself correcting what he said for the second time. He said that his brothers didn't trust her, when in fact it was just one brother.

Leo soon followed Astraea up the steps, and shadowed her movement as she swiftly hopped over the turnstiles. His eyes strayed from observing his footsteps on the ground, to Astraea's right arm. He noticed it was stiffer than her left, then noted that the object she was carrying must be in that hand. The way she held it made it look like she would guard it with her life. It must have been that important to her, was the turtle's guess.

He heard muttering of voices ahead of him, and moved his gaze to see his brothers standing in a small group near the couch.

Five words rolled off his red banded brother's tongue, and it was a hit to his chest, and moreover, Astraea's.

"Oh good, Leo's with her", Raph said to his two brothers next to him.

Those words did not mean as much to him as it did to Astraea, once it reached her ears. She cursed under her breath, before thinking, _Leonardo was sufficient evidence. This whole time, I thought if he returned with me safely, Raphael's trust would not change, but it seems I am wrong. Maybe I should not have brought this with me…_

Her grip on the cuboid object tightened once again. She kept her face stiff as her grip, and approached the group forming a semicircle.

She soon had three pairs of orbs closely examining her with pressure building up from it. Astraea couldn't hold it any longer, so she thrust her right hand forward and uncurled her fingers to show what she was holding onto. She felt like a small child showing their parents what they took without permission; about to be punished.

The three pairs of orbs averted from studying her, to studying the object in the middle of her palm.

"What is that for, Astraea?" Donnie asked with a quizzical expression displayed on his face. He knew what it was, but not what it was for. Questions raced through his mind such as, what could it have in it?

However, not everyone understood what it was. One being the orange banded turtle.

"What is that?" Mikey inquired, soon after his brother's question. Raph rolled his eyes in annoyance for his lack of understanding. He wacked the back of his little brother's head as he would usually do when Mikey didn't understand something obvious, or said something ridiculous. He deemed it was necessary to do so even though it wouldn't really help anyone.

"I will show you", the blonde teen said. For some reason she was stunned at hearing her voice, in spite of the fact that the last time she talked was probably twenty minutes, or half an hour the longest. The tension prior to this moment may have made her ears close off to sound, so hearing again felt unusual.

She lowered her arm, and began to make her way to the lab. Bits of distant muttering followed when she was already in Donnie's lab, and although she couldn't catch what the words were exactly, she could tell what they were conversing about.

_Raphael is most likely telling his brothers not to trust me, no matter what I say, or do…_

Fortunately, Astraea didn't wait too long until the turtles joined her in the lab. While they were filing in one by one, the blonde teen seated herself at Donnie's work desk and computer, before plugging the small object into the machine.

In a short time, the four brothers were surrounding Astraea on the computer, with Raph keeping his distance, but keeping his eyes on the computer screen like everyone else.

"I have had this with me ever since I have been with the Shredder", she started and could sense the four turtles flinching ever so slightly from mentioning the name. She wished to apologize to them for bringing her former master up, but she needed to start strong, and be hard-hitting so they would listen to her point.

"You are all aware that Shredder took me in, I do not know who my real parents are nor where I came from, correct?" Astraea rhetorically asked the turtles, and even then, the turtles responded. Well, three out of four. It was no doubt that the red banded turtle wouldn't reply, although Astraea detected that he was mentally responding, and would rather keep a stoic face.

"And not long ago, a feeling that I had previously buried, resurfaced. This feeling, was the need to find out my true past." She glanced up at Leo at the end of her sentence, conveying her gratitude that he – along with Splinter – were the ones to wake up that need. The blue banded turtle caught her gaze, and smiled back as a "You're welcome."

"When I became a part of the Foot Clan, the Shredder gave me a name, a home, and a place I felt I could belong. I accepted it all because I did not have it for…such a long time. However, when the Shredder revealed some bits of my past, I refused to believe that I had _motivated forgetting_, causing me to forget so much of it."

"So I got this", she pointed at the small object connected to the computer. "A USB."

"Oh, so that's what it is", Mikey suddenly spoke up. All eyes went to him, and he smiled sheepishly for his outburst, which was clearly not at a good time. Astraea gave him a light smile because he finally caught up with everyone else, and then continued.

"This USB is not to help me get rid of my _motivated forgetting_ of course, but to keep the files I could get my hands on about my past." The sixteen year old pulled up a file on the computer to show some diagrams she had with pictures, small paragraphs, and red lines connecting it together. It looked like a police 'link diagram', although there were many question marks and missing pieces of information.

Surprisingly, Raph was intrigued by the 'link diagram' and shifted closer to the group to get a better look at the computer screen. Astraea's breath hitched as Raph, and all the turtles stared at the diagram she created, as they were more interested in it than she thought they would be. She peered closely at the diagram as well, realizing how long it had been since she'd last seen it. She noticed the missing spaces and the multiple question marks like they were neon lights flashing at her, and it made her blush in embarrassment.

_I did not realize how far off I am to figuring out my whole past, _she thought sadly as she stared at the 'link diagram' with her hands beginning to shake.

"The last time I opened this was just less than two years ago", Astraea said slowly, and the turtles snapped out of their stare to listen to her.

"I thought that searching for my past indicated that I was ungrateful to Oroku Saki, who had been kind to me then. So I buried this need, and locked up the USB somewhere where I did not have to think about it. Only recently I had thought about it again. It was after I escaped a few weeks ago."

"At first, I agreed to help you find Jaylene because it meant I could use an undetected computer to search through the Shredder and kraang files in their database as I could not do that when I was there secretly using the kraang's own computers…" She lifted her eyes to look up at the purple banded turtle, and cracked a nervous smile. She was near apologizing to him for trying use his computer behind his back, when he raised his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder before squeezing it. Her orbs grew into large saucepans as he did so, but he followed this brief hug with an explanation of his own.

"Astraea, I've never experienced what you're feeling because I'm not an orphan since I have Splinter and my brothers, but it seems to be an instinct for orphans to want to know who their real parents are. You could have told me you wanted to use my computer for that too though. I would've let you, and better yet, help you", Donnie said in a soft voice. There was nothing fake in his tone because he was telling her the truth. He couldn't believe that Astraea worked so hard to keep this from them, when all she could have done was ask for help. He wouldn't hesitate to help…although he couldn't say the same for his red banded brother.

Astraea leaned against his arm in comfort for a little longer, content that he was this accepting after she kept so much from them. Hopefully they would all feel the same as the purple banded turtle.

"What I am trying to get out of this turtles, is a deal. I will help you find Jaylene, and you will help me uncover the truth of my past. Please", the blonde teen proposed, in a way that the turtles didn't think she'd show herself. The way she asked them wasn't asking. She was begging.

It didn't take long before the turtles responded. And Leo was the one to represent their thoughts in his words. "Of course Astraea. Even Raph's okay with it, because one, this is his way of apologizing for what he said earlier. And two, we'll never refuse any help to find Jaylene", the blue banded turtle said.

A beam was sneaking up on Astraea's face, and she turned to Raph to make sure he agreed with it.

His stare was locked with hers, and he saw the look of hope in her green eyes. That look, was the one he had been carrying with him for over two years, and even now. It was as if he was looking into his own eyes, for hers were green like his.

A groan escape from his lips in annoyance, much like he rolled his eyes at his little brother earlier. Nevertheless, his older brother was right. He wouldn't turn down an opportunity to find Jaylene, even if he disliked Astraea and wasn't going to let his guard down around her. Not feeling like responding with words, he gave a slow nod.

That gesture was probably quite rude and had the angry edge to it, but Astraea was too delighted to notice the anger conveyed.

She jumped from her seat and began hugging the three turtles around her. Raph separated himself from that group to escape the hug, yet it didn't stop Astraea.

The sixteen year old dashed to the red banded turtle and tackled him in an eager embrace. They were lucky enough not to land on the floor, and Raph was surprised at how strong she was in something insignificant, like this hug.

His body reacted differently than he expected though. He guessed that his instincts would be to push her away straight after they came in contact, but instead, he found his arms wrapping themselves around her smaller frame.

He was stunned as to why he would do this when he had very little trust in her. Despite that, he didn't want to release his grip, and the emotions in his head began to argue with each other. One thought found its way to Raph's center of attention among his contradicting emotions, and it showed him why he wasn't fighting this embrace.

His body pressed against a petite, delicate, yet strong frame made him reminisce his hugs with Jaylene.

_So that's why…I feel like I'm hugging Jay..., _Raph thought, cherishing this feeling, up until the reality of sadness smacked him right in his face. He looked down at Astraea who was still clinging to him, and cleared his thoughts. She wasn't Jaylene, she'd never be Jaylene. She had so many qualities of Jaylene, but she's not her.

Raph allowed the embrace to last a minute longer as another thought stamped on his wondering mind.

_I can't trust her. Maybe I should like Leo, Donnie and Mikey, but she'd better not be spying on us…even without realizing it. I can't let my guard down yet. She needs to earn my trust.  
_

* * *

_**Fin**_

Hehe, I feel so bad writing this and only posting it now…I'm sorry you guys had to wait 6 months until this rushed chapter, but hopefully you'd understand that writer's block and not having any motivation or inspiration really takes a toll on you. I probably lost some readers because of this, but ehh, I guess I deserve it. Anyway, the last part Raph thought may have been confusing, but it'll be a lead on to the next chapter, so please bear with me! I promise that the chapter will not take six months to write XD Cause I've finally found the motivation and inspiration that I've been missing for so long, and I also have most of the chapters planned ^_^ Anyway, please review, and please don't attack me in these reviews because of this very late update :D

_Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT 2012_

_10/11/15_


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